The application of these techniques has led to fuels being studied before and after service providing new knowledge and ideas to enhance burnup and fuel utilization or investigate new fuel forms. In addition, these tools have been applied to evaluate the movement of fission products and further the understanding of the fuel clad chemical interactions and are now ready to be deployed in other fields of research as well.

In parallel, model development and implementation of the data generated with advanced techniques in physics-based models for fuel performance codes is becoming increasingly important, both for current fuel burnup extension and advanced fuel development.

This symposium aims to take a closer look at the evolution of the microstructure and thermo-physical properties of nuclear fuels during service, including the interaction region between fuel and cladding. Correspondingly, the synergy with materials modeling in advancing and understanding fuels performance under normal and accident conditions will be considered in the symposium.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
Scanning electron microscopy characterization of nuclear fuels and its associated techniques such as Energy dispersive spectroscopy and Wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Electron backscatter diffraction
Transmission electron microscopy characterization of nuclear fuels
3D reconstructions of electron backscatter diffraction or scanning election microscopy images of nuclear fuels
Thermo-physical property measurements of both fresh and irradiated nuclear fuels
Modeling of nuclear fuel behavior during operation