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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.
Joseph F. Pilat
Nuclear Technology | Volume 179 | Number 1 | July 2012 | Pages 52-60
Technical Paper | Special Issue on Safeguards / Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT179-52
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A Generation IV International Forum (GIF) Working Group has developed a methodology with which to evaluate the proliferation resistance and physical protection (PR&PP) robustness of nuclear energy systems. For such nuclear systems, there is a need to evaluate designs that are not fully developed, technology issues from fuels to fuel cycles that are not yet determined, and safeguards, security, and other measures that are not yet decided. To that end, this paper proposes use of formal expert elicitation in conjunction with the PR&PP methodology. This combination would provide a systematic and transparent qualitative analysis of proliferation resistance and physical protection and also would contribute to the development of credible input for quantitative analyses. The outcome would be valuable for internal planning purposes for nuclear designers, safeguards experts, and technical and policy stakeholders involved in the development of Generation IV nuclear energy systems.