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Launching into tomorrow: NRIC guides new era of research and deployment
In June 2025, the Department of Energy announced the Reactor Pilot Program, an authorization pathway that allowed reactor developers to partner with the DOE to get first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors built and tested. Soon after, the DOE rolled out a complementary Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aimed to fast-track fuel projects. In all, 20 projects were accepted into the new programs.
Jan-Fong Jue, Blair H. Park, Curtis R. Clark, Glenn A. Moore, Dennis D. Keiser, Jr.
Nuclear Technology | Volume 172 | Number 2 | November 2010 | Pages 204-210
Technical Paper | Materials for Nuclear Systems | doi.org/10.13182/NT10-A10905
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) program develops advanced nuclear fuels for high-power test reactors. Monolithic fuel design provides higher uranium loading than that of the traditional dispersion fuel design. Hot isostatic pressing is a promising process for low-cost batch fabrication of monolithic RERTR fuel plates for these high-power reactors. Bonding U-Mo fuel foil and 6061-Al cladding by hot isostatic press bonding was successfully developed at Idaho National Laboratory. Because of the relatively high processing temperature, the interaction between fuel meat and aluminum cladding is a concern. Two different methods were employed to mitigate this effect: a diffusion barrier and a doping addition to the interface. Both types of fuel plates have been fabricated by hot isostatic press bonding. Preliminary results show that the direct fuel/cladding interaction during the bonding process was eliminated by introducing a thin zirconium diffusion barrier layer between the fuel and the cladding. Fuel plates were also produced and characterized with a silicon-rich interlayer between fuel and cladding. This paper reports the recent progress of this developmental effort and identifies the areas that need further attention.