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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.
Gregg B. Swindlehurst
Nuclear Technology | Volume 121 | Number 3 | March 1998 | Pages 295-301
Technical Paper | RETRAN | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2841
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Duke Power Company has experienced high levels of steam generator tube degradation at its McGuire Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, and at Catawba Nuclear Station, Unit 1. Repair of the degraded tubes by sleeving and plugging has resulted in exceeding the tube plugging levels assumed in the licensing basis analyses. Consequently, the licensing basis was reanalyzed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved RETRAN-02 and VIPRE-01 methodology to justify continued operation with tube plugging levels up to 20%. A decision was also made to replace the steam generators with a design significantly different from the current steam generators. This necessitated additional analytical efforts to determine the thermal-hydraulic transients to be used in the design of the replacement steam generators, to reanalyze the licensing basis, and to re-certify the control room simulator. The RETRAN-02, RETRAN-03, VIPRE-01, GOTHIC 4.0, and RELAP5/MOD3 codes were used for these analyses. The adverse impact of increased steam generator tube plugging levels and the design of the replacement steam generators were accommodated without significantly impacting plant operation or requiring more restrictive technical specification limits.