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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.
Richard V. Demars, Charles G. Dideon, Thomas A. Thornton, James S. Tulenko, Wayne A. Pavinich, Elma Beth S. Pardue*
Nuclear Technology | Volume 62 | Number 1 | July 1983 | Pages 75-80
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33234
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Postirradiation examinations have been conducted as part of an extensive Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) program in reactor control materials performance characterization. These examinations of fixed burnable poison rods and control rods confirmed operational performance and extended the material behavior data base for irradiated absorber materials used in B&W-designed pressurized water reactors. These examinations included visual, dimensional, and destructive examinations. They were conducted at B&W’s Lynchburg Research Center hot cell facilities on Ag-In-Cd control rods, Al2O3-B4C burnable poison rods, and B4C control rods. The visual and dimensional exams revealed no discernible exterior damage on any of these components. Destructive examinations provided data on absorber swelling, gas release, and open porosity.