JP Nuclear Materials SP3: Development of Ceramic Materials for Next Generation Nuclear Reactors Françoise Maday ENEA, Italy SP3 Coordinator

JP Nuclear Materials Page 2 Materials challenges for GFR & LFR LFR assets: Inherent high safety features LFR materials issues Corrosion/erosion of materials in lead implying strict control of temperature, dissolved oxygen & speed.  Material innovation is required for pump impeller  Very emerging materials with promising capabilities are MAX phases (ternary carbides, e.g. Ti 3 SiC 2 ) GFR assets: Energy efficiency, Generation of process heat SiC f /SiC is the only material that fulfills most requirements GFR clad requirements for safety No melting Leak tightness Structural integrity Heat transfer

JP Nuclear Materials Page 3 State-of-the-art SiC-based technologies for GFR fuel cladding Nuclear- grade SiC f /SiC composite Candidate material also for Fusion, long studied Stability demonstrated up to 72dpa GFR fuel cladding  SiC f /SiC sandwich clad technology is a breakthrough from a French national programs lead by CEA  It guarantees leak-tightness for increased safety Fabricability of a SiC/SiC clad prototype fully demonstrated!

JP Nuclear Materials Page 4 Research in SP3: SiCf/SiC for GFR fuel cladding : Coordination and support action; FP7/MATTER (0.2 PY/Y from EC / 50%)  Identification of breakthroughs on SiC f /SiC technologies from independent European R&D programs  Identification of targets and available experimental tools/facilities  Definition of priorities  Integration into common collaborative framework : FP7/MatISSE IRP (2 PY/Y from EC / 50% + 3 PY/Y in-kind)

JP Nuclear Materials Page 5 Research in SP3: MAX phases for LFR pump impeller GOAL: To demonstrate the potential of MAX monoliths /cermets as materials for MYRRHA pump impeller, based on key criteria.  Go/no-go task about MAX phase technologies for LFR pump impeller  Go/no-go task about MAX phase potentiality for other LFR components to increase safety  If MAX phase potential demonstrated (TLR ~ 2) funding required to go beyond : FP7-Euratom MatISSE IRP; 1 PY/Y fully national

JP Nuclear Materials Page 6 Ongoing work and next steps Development of joining technology for SiCf/SiC clad hermetic sealing (in-kind PP) Scale-up SiC f /SiC sections to the specified length Standardization of new characterization tests on non-standard sample shapes … MAtISSE (~2 PY/Y / 50% + 3 PY/Y national) Conditions for further progress: availability of the necessary resources: Infrastructures for integrated experiments (especially those involving irradiation) Funding support for very expensive experimental campaigns Multiple effects/multiple interaction integrated experiments Investigating lower cost manufacture methods than reference CVI Issue of nuclear-grade fibre production (exclusively developed in Japan): opportunity to promoting a European industrial chain?

JP Nuclear Materials Page 7 SiCf/SiC potential fields of application Most immediate perspectives for synergies (nuclear)Advanced high T applications

JP Nuclear Materials Thank you for your attention Any question?