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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.
E. D. Jones, A. McBride, K. C. Thomas
Nuclear Technology | Volume 52 | Number 3 | March 1981 | Pages 393-400
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32713
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Fabrication and welding methods used to make 217-rod grid spacers for liquid-metal fast breeder reactor application have been developed. Grid straps are formed from cold-worked Type 316 stainless-steel strip material and are assembled into a hexagonalshaped honeycomb grid, using resistance welding. A support strap is then welded onto the periphery of the grid using a manual gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process. The grids (11) are then located and appropriately spaced inside a hexagonal duct and attached using an automatic GTAW process. Three of these subassemblies have been completed and are awaiting loading of the fuel rods. After loading, the subassemblies are to be inserted in driver positions of the Fast Flux Test Facility for the acceptance test phase.