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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.
O. K. Tallent, James C. Mailen, David O. Campbell, S. R. Buxton
Nuclear Technology | Volume 60 | Number 3 | March 1983 | Pages 395-405
Technical Paper | LWR Control Materials—I and II / Chemical Processing | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33126
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Dissolution tests using ThO2 microspheres, ThO2 pellets, and Zircaloy tubing were performed to establish conditions that can be used for the selective dissolution of thoria from Zircaloy cladding. Although additional work is needed in several areas, the following conditions are tentatively recommended for use in process demonstration tests: 0.02 to 0.04 M HF in refluxing 8 to 12 M HNO3 with sufficient Al3+, or (preferably) Zr4+, added to prevent major corrosion of the stainless steel dissolver vessel. If Zr4+ is used, the concentration required is approximately the same molarity as the fluoride concentration.