ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 15–18, 2026
Phoenix, AZ|Arizona Grand Resort & Spa
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
September 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
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.
Melville A. Feraday, Moon T. Foo, Ross D. Davidson, John E. Winegar
Nuclear Technology | Volume 58 | Number 2 | August 1982 | Pages 233-241
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT82-A32934
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The stability of Al-USiAl dispersion fuels and Al-U alloys was examined at temperatures between 200 and 400°C for times up to 93 days. The Al-U alloys, which contained 21 to 37 wt% uranium, did not show any dimensional or metallurgical changes after 93 days at 400°C. After being heated at 200°C, the Al-USiAl fuel showed no dimensional or metallurgical changes. However, between 250 and 400°C, the USiAl particles reacted with the aluminum matrix to form UAl3 and UAl4. The amount of reaction increased with temperature and time. The aluminum diffuses into the USiAl particles along grain boundaries to form the new Al-U compounds. Although the Al-USiAl fuel showed thermal instability at 250°C and above, the in-reactor behavior under normal operation is expected to be satisfactory since fuel temperatures will generally be <200°C.