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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.
S. L. Sutter, J. W. Johnston, P. C. Owzarski, J. Mishima, L. C. Schwendiman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 52 | Number 1 | January 1981 | Pages 100-104
Technical Paper | Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32693
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Release of plutonium dioxide from a breached shipping container was simulated using depleted uranium dioxide. Microgram quantities of the powder were carried by pressurized air through very small openings in a vessel approximately the same dimensions as a shipping container. Powder transmission was measured as a function of upstream pressure above and below the static powder level. Controlling parameters for the powder transmission were the cross-sectional area of the opening, opening characteristics, i.e., orifice or capillary, and chamber pressure. After a decision on leak location and configuration, powder leakage can be estimated using the relationship ln(A√P), where A is the area and P is the gauge pressure. Given a once-a-month event rate, expected maximum powder transmitted per event through a 38-µm opening by 6895-kPa (1000-psig) pressure would be 287 µg for a leak below the static and 46 µg above. Average values would be 11% of this maximum.