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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.
Milan Hrovat, Karl-Gerhard Hackstein, Hans Huschka, H. A. Pirk, Thomas Schmidt-Hansberg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 61 | Number 3 | June 1983 | Pages 460-464
Technical Paper | New Directions in Nuclear Energy with Emphasis on Fuel Cycles / Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33170
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In continuation of 20 yr of experience with high-temperature gas-cooled reactor graphite fuel element fabrication (molded fuel spheres and monolithic block fuel elements), NUKEM introduced a new graphite-based material with an inorganic binder produced by molding. A mixture of nickel and sulfur is used as the inorganic binder for natural graphite powder. The fabrication is facilitated by the low temperature of 500°C in generating a chemically and thermally stable nickel sulfide. The newly developed material is suitable as a matrix for the fixation of high-active waste and as a corrosion-resistant layer of the steel supporting tube for final disposal of spent fuel elements. The material of natural graphite/nickel sulfide is distinguished by high density, high corrosion resistance, a low leaching rate, good thermal conductivity, an appropriate coefficient of thermal expansion, and high thermal stability due to the high melting point of nickel sulfide ( 790°C). Currently, a pilot plant for fabrication of containers for spent fuel elements is being erected. Additionally, development work is in progress to obtain basic design data for a high-level waste fixation facility.