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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.
John T. Holmes, Grant O. Haroldsen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 21 | Number 3 | March 1974 | Pages 228-234
Technical Paper | Instrument | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A31393
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) primary sodium system is equipped with continuous monitors for oxygen and hydrogen impurities in the sodium. The sensors of these monitors have been incorporated into a modularized system that was developed for nuclear reactor applications for sodium temperature and sodium flow-rate conditioning. The oxygen meter calibration is provided by periodic analysis of the oxygen in sodium by the vanadium-equilibration method. The hydrogen meter is a direct reading device and does not require on-line calibration. Typically, the impurity content of the sodium has been shown to be quite stable at 0.6- to 1.0-ppm oxygen and 0.06- to 0.08-ppm hydrogen. On-line carbon monitors are not presently in use at EBR-II. A single determination of the chemical activity carbon in sodium gave a result of 0.002 relative to graphite and is about the same value as measured in other “clean” stainless steel-sodium systems. Plans are being made to equip the EBR-II secondary system with ten hydrogen meters that will be used for detecting the onset of steam-to-sodium leaks such that corrective action can be taken before the leak enlarges and propagates to adjacent tubes.