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Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
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September 2026
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August 2026
Latest News
LLNL, Ampera partner to develop thorium-based TRISO fuel
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has formed a strategic partnership with Ampera to develop the company’s nuclear fuel concept through a project named THUNDER, for Thorium Unimodal Droplet Ejection for Reactors.
The focus of THUNDER is fabricating TRISO made with kernels of thorium rather than the usual uranium. LLNL and Ampera will evaluate and optimize liquid metal–jetting technology to produce highly uniform, spherical kernels of thorium-232 for later processing into TRISO fuel.
Technical Session|Panel|Space Nuclear Propulsion
Tuesday, May 6, 2025|1:00–2:40PM CDT|SPOC A (Space & Rocket Center)
Session Chair:
Julia E. Cline
Session Organizer:
Track Organizer:
Harold Gerrish (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center)
This discussion will include panelists who are working on tangential technologies in the area of in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing that will benefit space nuclear propulsion architectures.
Will Grier
NASA Langley Research Center
Mitchell Rodriguez
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Kerry Timmons
Lockheed Martin
John Lymer
MDA Space