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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.
H. J. Sutherland, J. E. Smaardyk, L. A. Kent
Nuclear Technology | Volume 49 | Number 1 | June 1980 | Pages 70-79
Technical Paper | Nuclear Power Reactor Safety / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32508
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An acoustic, pulse-echo technique has been used as part of the large-scale, sodium/concrete interaction tests being conducted at Sandia Laboratories to measure the penetration of a large pool (up to 186 kg) of liquid sodium (initial temperature as high as 600°C) into a limestone concrete crucible. The acoustic data give information on the penetration, penetration rate, and condition of the sodium/concrete interface during the test. Two distinct attack modes have been seen. The first is chemical, and proceeds initially at ∼i mm/min and is of limited extent. The second is mechanical (spallation), and proceeds more rapidly (∼4 mm/min) and appears to be limited only by the reaction kinetics.