ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 15–18, 2026
Phoenix, AZ|Arizona Grand Resort & Spa
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
September 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
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.
David A. Petti, Zoel R. Martinson, Richard R. Hobbins, Daniel J. Osetek
Nuclear Technology | Volume 94 | Number 3 | June 1991 | Pages 313-335
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A15812
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Highly irradiated fuel rods and control rods are used in the Power Burst Facility Severe Fuel Damage (SFD) Test 1-4 to simulate conditions expected during a high-temperature, severe fuel damage accident in a pressurized water reactor. The objective of the test is to provide data on fuel and control rod behavior, hydrogen generation, and the release and transport of fission products and aerosols during severe accidents. Important results from the test based upon the response of on-line instrumentation, analysis of fission product and aerosol data, and postirradiation examination of the fuel bundle are presented. The results from SFD 1-4 provide insight into phenomena governing fuel bundle thermal response, Zircaloy oxidation and hydrogen generation, control rod degradation behavior, core melt progression, fission product release, aerosol generation, and fission product and aerosol deposition and transport.