Conclusion

It is recognized that electricity generated by the capture of heat from a nuclear fission reaction is clean energy since it does not contribute to factors associated to climate change. Nuclear energy therefore contributes to the decarbonization efforts across the Globe. For over sixty years the light water reactors used a similar design of their fuel rods, consisting of uranium dioxide fuel pellets encased in tubes made of a zirconium-based alloy. Since 2011 there has been an international effort to make the design of the fuel rods more robust, that is, more resistant to accidents in the nuclear power plants. A few newer materials are being considered both for the fuel and for the cladding. Some materials are modifications of the traditional architecture, and some materials are revolutionary, meaning that they were never been used before in a reactor. An evolutionary concept would be to...