TopFuel 2012 - Call for Papers

TopFuel 2012 will take place from 2 – 6 September 2012 in Manchester, UK.

TopFuel’s primary objective is to bring together leading specialists in the field from around the world to analyse advances in nuclear fuel management technology and to use the findings of the latest cutting-edge research to help manufacture the high performance nuclear fuels of today and tomorrow.

More information is available on the TopFuel 2012 Conference Website: www.topfuel2012.org.

The TopFuel 2012 Programme Committee is calling for both oral and poster presentations in the following tracks:

Operation and Experience
Fuel operating experience and performance; reliability; high burn-up fuels; water side corrosion and hydriding; stress corrosion cracking; MOX fuel performance; post irradiation data; pool-side examination; radiation effects; water chemistry and corrosion counter-measures; assembly distortion; mixed-core operation; re-use after transportation/storage.

Transient Fuel Behaviour
Transient fuel behaviour and criteria (RIA, LOCA, ATWS, power ramps …); fuel safety-related issues; pellet cladding interaction (PCMI/PCI); transient fission gas releases; cladding bursting/ballooning, pellet fragmentation/dispersal during transient events; small and large-scale fuel testing facilities; fuel behaviour under extended loss of cooling, re-criticality.

Design and Materials
Advances in fuel assembly design; fuel processing and manufacturing; cladding and structural alloy development; MOX fuel design and manufacturing; fuel design for improved thermal hydraulics, mechanical and corrosion-resistant behaviour; irradiation experience in test reactors; accident resistant fuel; fuel design  optimisation for disposal; innovative fuel concepts.

Modelling
Development, verification and validation of fuel modelling codes; multiscale modelling; multi-physics coupling; fuel behaviour modelling during operation and under back-end conditions; water chemistry modelling; treatment of uncertainty; statistical analysis;design and analysis methods.

Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation
Interim storage; reprocessing; closed fuel cycles; criticality; fuel behaviour in dry containers, wet storage ponds and during transportation; long-term storage strategies; ageing; R&D activities; fuel database management.