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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.
Horst Roepenack, Fritz U. Schlemmer, Gerhard J. Schlosser
Nuclear Technology | Volume 77 | Number 2 | May 1987 | Pages 175-186
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A33982
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Thermal plutonium recycling has been demonstrated by Kraftwerk Union AG/Alkem on a large scale since 1972 in power plants at Obrigheim and Gundremmingen, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). An improved mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication technology has been available since 1981. Such improved MOX fuel is currently being used at Obrigheim, Neckarwestheim, Unterweser, Grafenrheinfeld, FRG, and Beznau 2, Switzerland. The MOX fuel assemblies currently inserted exhibit an operating performance that is comparable to that of uranium fuel assemblies. Postirradiation investigations on MOX fuel show high mechanical stability, low shrinkage and swelling, and good behavior during power transients. On the basis of this experience, large-scale use of MOX fuel is technically feasible.