Accelerating the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies for Gen IV nuclear reactors through international collaboration.

Abstract

Developments in advanced manufacturing (AM) are occurring faster than the ability to introduce new materials and methods into design codes. Qualifying new AM technologies for use with nuclear design codes can be a long and complex process. The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) Advanced Manufacturing Materials Engineering Task Force (AMME-TF), formed in 2018, focuses on how collaborative AM R&D could be used to decrease time to deployment of Gen-IV advanced reactors. This paper provides a critical review of 2019 and 2021 surveys sampling advanced nuclear reactor vendors, supply chain specialists, regulators, and other experts in GIF member countries. The responding community doubled between 2019 and 2022. Both surveys confirmed that many AM technologies were considered opportunities by potential end users, although 90% of respondents identified the creation and approval of codes and standards as the greatest obstacle to their adoption. Industry prioritization on AM technologies, components and materials changed significantly during the three-year timespan. Additionally, the paper summarizes a 2021 modeling & simulation workshop that developed ideas on how to accelerate the qualification of AM and synthesizes the survey results and workshop conclusions into a review of critical research gaps and paths to address these gaps, particularly through international collaboration.