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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.
Friedrich Burtak, Gerhard J. Schlosser
Nuclear Technology | Volume 123 | Number 3 | September 1998 | Pages 268-277
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2898
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
It is proposed that weapons-grade Pu recovered under the strategic arms reduction agreement be used in existing light water reactors under the current safety and licensing criteria. Based on experience with the commercial use of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel in German pressurized water reactors, MOX fuel assemblies containing weapons-grade Pu have been designed. The related fuel management studies are presented. The possibility of using corresponding hexagonal MOX fuel assemblies in Russian-type VVER 1000 reactors is also discussed. In addition, the use of weapons-grade Pu in modern boiling water reactors is addressed. It can be stated that safe normal operation and benign accident behavior are achievable.