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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.
George C. Geisler, J. A. Urbanski, W. F. Witzig
Nuclear Technology | Volume 40 | Number 3 | October 1978 | Pages 240-247
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A26722
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The primary objective of the study was to analyze the feasibility of using a large ice water heat sink for power plant cooling and to predict the effect of the relatively cool condenser water, produced by this system, on plant performance. For a chosen hypothetical site, the study has shown that a large ice mass could be produced during winter in northern regions and coupled with a 1000-MW(electric) nuclear power plant to provide year-round cooling water as low as 4.5°C (40°F). When introduced into the plant, this water could increase the thermal efficiency of the particular plant chosen from 34.1 to 35.4%. Although the initial cost of this system is above that of a cooling tower, the additional revenue realized through increased plant efficiency can, over the life of the plant, help to offset this increased cost.