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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.
C. E. Johnson, S. W. Tam, P. E. Blackburn, D. C. Fee
Nuclear Technology | Volume 57 | Number 1 | April 1982 | Pages 104-113
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT82-A16190
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Venting and pressure equalization of gas-cooled fast breeder reactor (GCFR) fuel rods can be maintained only as long as axial gas transport paths are available and operating within the fuel pin. Analysis of the chemistry expected within an irradiated GCFR fuel pin shows that axial gas transport paths may become plugged due to the migration of fission product cesium and the formation of low density cesium-urania or cesium-fuel compounds. Cesium transport in the fuel and blanket is controlled by oxygen concentrations and by temperature distribution. Analysis of the shorter Experimental Breeder Reactor II in-reactor fuel pins suggests cesium will be retained in the much longer fast test reactor pins. This will lead to minimal plugging of the gas transport paths.