Mr. Alain FRICHET

Mr. Alain FRICHET, is the Framatome Fuel Products and Technologies Vice –President . In addition he is the Quality Director of the Fuel Business Unit.

He is leading the Research and Development of all Framatome Fuel PWR and BWRs Technologies and the definition of the Products and Codes and Methods strategies. This encompasses all projects, realized on Framatome sites in France, Germany and US, together with worldwide technical partnerships.

He was graduated from PARIS Pierre et  Marie Curie University as Doctor in Metallurgy in 1991 following his Engineering school  top class diploma in 1988. Specialist in the material domain, he joined Framatome in 1995 as M5_Framatome alloy project manager and then occupied various management and executive positions in Framatome including Worldwide Fuel engineering.
Abstract:Following the Fukushima accident, many initiatives were launched in the global nuclear industry including in the fuel design R&D domain in order to provide enhanced resistance to extreme situations. While targeting reinforcement of resistance in the unlikely event of a Beyond Design Basis Accident (e.g. loss of cooling with loss of off-site power), those programs are also looking for improved fuel cycle economics. The presentation will address the question of what could be an ideal fuel from a safety and economic viewpoints and will show a synthesis of the main options studied by the industry and research organisms. The various main concepts will be compared from safety benefit, economy, uncertainty in development & licensing and time to market perspectives
The Framatome Fuel Business unit has been very active for decades in this area with its French partners CEA and EDF and additionally developed new programs and partnerships around the world including European and US utilities to make its solution an industrial high-quality reality. These efforts have led to two main concepts brought together as part of Framatome PROtect program: the evolutionary Cr-Cr solution and the breakthrough SiC-SiCf solution, both being optionally complemented by high burnup and high enrichment levers making them even more attractive. The presentation will illustrate the scientific background for these solutions, their advantages towards safety and economy, some elements of their industrialization and their implementation roadmaps.
These innovation needs and the related engagement of fuel vendors, research organisms, utilities and states are not only close now to provide safety and economically usable benefits but are also a strong contribution to competence build up and renewal in the competencies of product design and modelling. Such move of the Nuclear industry is also highly positive since it delivers « innovative by-products » which can be used to solve known challenges in normal operation and make the Fuel reliability even better.