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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.
F. K. Manasse, A. N. Tse
Nuclear Technology | Volume 29 | Number 2 | May 1976 | Pages 222-238
Radioisotope | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A31582
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Based on the well-known betavoltaic effect, a new nuclear battery, which uses a Schottky barrier, has been used in place of the more standard p-n junction diode, along with 147Pm metal film rather than Pm2O3 oxide, as in the commercially available Betacel. Measurement of absorption, conversion efficiency, thickness, etc., as functions of resistivity and other cell parameters, and assessment of performance are being researched to design a prototype battery.