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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.
V. F. Baston, K. J. Hofstetter, Richard F. Karuhn
Nuclear Technology | Volume 83 | Number 2 | November 1988 | Pages 216-227
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT88-A34164
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Defueling operations at Three Mile Island Unit 2 involve underwater plasma arc cutting of reactor vessel stainless steel components. Sampling and analysis of released off-gases and aerosols during steady-state plasma arc cutting tests established a conversion fraction of nitrogen-to-nitrogen oxides, off-gas composition, and aerosol concentrations for engineering evaluations of potential health and safety and corrosion issues. The sample results indicate that (a) <1 vol% of nitrogen is converted to nitrogen oxides, (b) the airborne particulate concentrations for the major steel components (chromium, iron, nickel, etc.) could exceed the threshold limit values without off-gas capability, (c) the volume percent hydrogen could exceed its lower flammability limit without off-gas capability, and (d) there is low corrosion potential for off-gas system components for the given torch operations.