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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.
M. W. Mahoney, N. E. Paton
Nuclear Technology | Volume 23 | Number 3 | September 1974 | Pages 290-297
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A15921
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Fatigue crack growth rates of Types 316 and 321 stainless steel were studied as a function of stress intensity, temperature, relative humidity, and gas environment. At 25°C it was shown that humidity in the presence of oxygen will accelerate crack growth rates by a factor of ∼1.7, as compared to an inert environment such as dry nitrogen or argon. In addition, a threshold level is implied for the effect of humidity above which further increases in moisture content have no additional influence on crack growth rates. At 649°C an air environment was found to increase crack growth rates by factors of ∼22 and ∼5 for Types 316 and 321 stainless steel, respectively, over rates determined in either argon or nitrogen. Crack growth rates in nitrogen and argon at 649°C were comparable to crack growth rates at 25°C, leading to the conclusion that increased growth rates observed at 649°C in air are principally a result of environmental interactions with the crack front rather than a result of reduced mechanical properties at 649°C. These results also show that Type 321 stainless steel is less susceptible than Type 316 to aggressive environments at 649°C such as room air, suggesting that Type 321 might be a better choice of material for some elevated temperature applications. Fractography of specimens tested at 649°C revealed the absence of striation formation for specimens tested in inert environments, while pronounced striations were found in environments such as air.