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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.
M. A. Feraday
Nuclear Technology | Volume 53 | Number 2 | May 1981 | Pages 176-185
Technical Paper | Realistic Estimates of the Consequences of Nuclear Accident / Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32622
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Thorium fuels enriched with 233U must be fabricated in shielded cells because of high gamma and alpha activity. A conceptual design of a remotely operated plant to produce gamma-active pellet fuels has been made. The plant consists of eight fabrication canyons, two repair canyons, and several miscellaneous cells. Process equipment is modular, easily disconnected, and mounted on plates for easy removal. Equipment consists of a combination of robotics, hard automation, and conventional process equipment. The plant is operated from a central control room with the assistance of a sophisticated computer-based control and information system. Many of the automated process steps are preprogrammed on the control computer and executed on demand by the supervising operator. The technology to build such a plant exists today but needs to be adapted to the needs of the recycle fuel industry.