The Office of Nuclear Energy within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE-NE) has identified the need for irradiation testing of nuclear fuels and materials, primarily in support of the Generation IV (Gen-IV) and Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) programs. These fuel development programs require a unique environment to test and qualify potential reactor fuel forms. This environment should combine a high fast neutron flux with a hard neutron spectrum and high irradiation temperature. An effort is presently underway at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to modify a large flux trap in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) to accommodate such a test facility [1,2]. The Gas Test Loop (GTL) Project Conceptual Design was initiated to determine basic feasibility of designing, constructing, and installing in a host irradiation facility, an experimental vehicle that can replicate with reasonable fidelity the fast-flux test environment needed for fuels and materials irradiation testing for advanced reactor concepts. Such a capability will be needed if programs such as the AFCI, Gen-IV, the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), and space nuclear propulsion are to meet development objectives and schedules. These programs are beginning some irradiations now, but many call for fast flux testing within this decade
