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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
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August 2026
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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|Space Nuclear Propulsion
Tuesday, May 6, 2025|3:15–4:55PM CDT|Atlantis/Discovery/Columbia (Marriott)
Session Chair:
Kurt Polzin (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center)
Track Organizer:
Harold Gerrish (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center)
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Modular Assembled Radiators for Nuclear Electric Population (NEP) VehicLes (MARVL) Project - Update
3:15–3:21PM CDT
Amanda Stark (NASA Langley Research Center), Will Grier (NASA Langley Research Center)
Paper
Applications of an Electrostatic Mesh in Nuclear Propulsion Techniques
3:21–3:27PM CDT
Grace E. Bittlingmaier (Beam Alpha Inc.)
Exploration of Regenerative Cooling for High-Power Adiabatic Electric Thrusters
3:27–3:33PM CDT
Kaylin Borders (Cornell Univ.), Elaine Petro (Cornell Univ.)
Presentation Slides (Visible to Attendees)
Preliminary Considerations on BANTER: A European Project on Innovative Ammonia Bimodal Nuclear Rocket
3:33–3:39PM CDT
Elia Puccinelli (Univ. Pisa), Valerio Giusti (Univ. Pisa), Angelo Pasini (Univ. Pisa)
Applying Past Space Reactor Lessons Towards Antares
3:39–3:45PM CDT
Kevin Makinson (Antares), Matthew Griffin (Antares), Hassan Safieddine (Antares), Aaron She (Antares)
Presentation Slides (Visible to Attendees) — Slides
ASTM Standard for Safe Operating Practices In-Space for Space Fission Reactors Used for Nuclear Power and Propulsion
3:45–3:51PM CDT
W. Randy Bell (Aerospace Corp.), Alex Gilbert (Zeno Power), Don Helton (NASA Headquarters)
Nonproliferation Considerations for Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion Systems
3:51–3:57PM CDT
Kathleen A. Doty (PNNL)
Oscillating Heat Pipes for Space Nuclear Power
3:57–4:03PM CDT
Alex Miller (ThermAvant Technologies)