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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Lightbridge announces first U-Zr fuel rod samples extruded at INL
Lightbridge Corporation announced today that it has reached “a critical milestone” in the development of its extruded solid fuel technology. Coupon samples using an alloy of zirconium and depleted uranium—not the high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) that Lightbridge plans to use to manufacture its fuel for the commercial market—were extruded at Idaho National Laboratory’s Materials and Fuels Complex.
Sean M. McDeavitt, Yunlin Xu, Thomas J. Downar, Alvin A. Solomon
Nuclear Technology | Volume 157 | Number 1 | January 2007 | Pages 37-52
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3800
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The thorium oxide fuel cycle has been a viable technology option since the beginning of the nuclear era. By placing (Th,U)O2 in a zirconium matrix, the resulting cermet nuclear fuel properties create a strong negative void reactivity coefficient, which is especially appealing for boiling water reactor applications. The combination of the thorium fuel cycle and zirconium matrix cermets has enabled a new core design for a simplified boiling water reactor (SBWR). Core design simulations show that an 8-yr fuel cycle is achievable using this fuel concept. Further, if burnable poisons are added to the powder fabrication mix, an essentially flat reactivity swing is created that could enable an autonomous control system. In addition to the SBWR core design, a preliminary investigation is presented for experimental fuel fabrication methods designed to simplify cermet fabrication. Spray drying and sintering were used to create mixed-oxide (Th,U)O2 powders with a nominal diameter of ~200 m, with ~10 vol% uniformly distributed porosity and nominal grain size of 5 m. In addition, a low-temperature cermet fabrication method was used to fabricate simulated fuel pins with a porous zirconium matrix. Results from these initial development experiments are promising for the future application of the cermet fuel, but further work is required to demonstrate their viability.