Improved test facilities are required for safety studies of liquid-metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) fuel bundles. The objectives for such a test facility can be obtained by installing a converter section in the central region of the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) core to provide a hardened neutron spectrum around the test section containing the large cluster of LMFBR fuel pins. The expertise gained at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in the Rover fuel element development program was extended to fabricate (U,Zr)C-graphite composite fuel rods for scoping studies of candidate fuels. Selected properties determined for the carbide-graphite composite fuel rods provided for the first scoping test indicate that they are definitely a candidate fuel for a TREAT converter.