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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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August 2025
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Startup looks to commercialize inertial fusion energy
Another startup hoping to capitalize on progress the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has made in realizing inertial fusion energy has been launched. On August 27, San Francisco–based Inertia Enterprises, a private fusion power start-up, announced the formation of the company with the goal of commercializing fusion energy.
Massimiliano Fratoni, Ehud Greenspan
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 168 | Number 1 | May 2011 | Pages 1-22
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE10-38
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This study investigates the neutronic characteristics of the Pebble Bed-Advanced High Temperature Reactor (PB-AHTR), which combines TRISO fuel technology and liquid salt [flibe (2LiF-Be2F)] cooling. Compared to equivalent helium-cooled cores, the flibe-cooled cores feature a significantly larger fraction of neutron loss to coolant absorption but also a reduced neutron loss to leakage. The flibe also significantly contributes to neutron slowing-down and allows an increase of the pebbles' heavy metal-to-carbon volume ratio as compared to helium-cooled cores. In order to guarantee all negative reactivity coefficients, and in particular coolant void and temperature feedbacks, the carbon-to-heavy metal atom ratio must not exceed 300 to 400, depending on the fuel kernel diameter. The maximum burnup attainable from a PB-AHTR that is fueled with 10% enriched uranium and operated in continuous refueling is ˜130 GWd/t HM; this is comparable to the maximum burnup achieved in other high-temperature reactors, either liquid salt or gas cooled. Compared to helium-cooled pebble bed reactors, the PB-AHTR pebbles can be loaded with 2.5 times more fuel, resulting in a smaller number of pebbles to fabricate and a smaller spent-fuel volume to handle per energy generated. Relative to a light water reactor, the PB-AHTR offers improved natural uranium ore utilization and reduced enrichment capacity.