Nuclear Reactors 1379 - Framatone Working On New Fuel For University of Munich Research Reactor.

     France's Framatome and Germany's Technical University of Munich (TUM) have agreed to create an industrialization process for the manufacture of monolithic molybdenum-uranium (U-Mo) fuel for the TUM’s FRM II research reactor. Framatome said that this low-enriched fuel will benefit from the highest uranium fuel density ever loaded into a European research reactor.
     The twenty thermal megawatt FRM II research reactor has been operating since 2005. It is one of the most effective sources of high-flux neutrons in the world. The reactor is not used to generate electricity. It is used to provide a neutron source for industrial and scientific use. The neutrons it generates are also used to produce medical radioisotopes and for the doping of high-purity silicon for the semiconductor industry. The reactor has a facility for teletherapy of malignant tumors using fast neutrons.
     The FRM II currently uses fuel enriched to over ninety five precent uranium-235 to generate its dense neutron flux. Such high-enriched uranium (HEU) is considered to be a nuclear proliferation risk. TUM has agreed with the German government and the Bavarian State, who finance the reactor, to work towards converting it to fuel with lower enrichment when a suitable fuel is becomes available. This is also a condition of the reactor's operating license, which was issued in 2003.
     Monolithic U-Mo is the only fuel which can allow the reactor to perform as intended while using a low enrichment of less than twenty percent uranium-235, according to TUM. This is possible because of the high uranium density in the fuel, Framatome said.
     In 2019, TUM contracted Framatome to develop the U-Mo foils manufacturing technique to utilize the existing technology of embedded foils in a cladding of aluminum. The first U-Mo foils were successfully manufactured in 2022 at Framatome's Compagnie pour l'Étude et la Réalisation de Combustibles Atomiques (CERCA) Research and Innovation Laboratory (CRIL) at Romans-sur-Isère in France. Inaugurated in 2019, CRIL is dedicated to developing uranium-based fuel for international research in physics and nuclear medicine.
     CRIL, in cooperation with TUM, developed the key steps of the manufacturing process for a high-quality U-Mo fuel. This has included the manufacture of small-scale prototypes, the establishment of a qualification procedure, and the installation of a pilot line in its research facility in Romans. Irradiation of the first monolithic U-Mo fuel plate prototype is scheduled for late 2024.
     François Gauché is Vice-President of CERCA. He said, “We have been working on this project since 2019 and we are proud to celebrate this important milestone with our client. Our teams rose to the challenge of developing a high-tech fuel to meet the needs of research reactors and ensure their sustainability. We are now ready to take this to the next level and manufacture this innovative fuel.”
     Christian Pfleiderer is the scientific director of the FRM II. He said, “FRM II and Framatome have been working since 2019 to set up a European production line for monolithic U-Mo fuel The hard work of our teams has paid off. This new fuel is the guarantee for a reliable and sustainable supply of neutrons for research and innovation.”