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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.
Delwin M. Romrell, Don M. Art, Richard D. Redekopp, James B. Waldo, Jerry L. Marshall
Nuclear Technology | Volume 86 | Number 3 | September 1989 | Pages 264-274
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34294
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The fuel handling sequence at the Fast Flux Test Reactor in Richland, Washington, utilizes several computer-aided fuel handling machines, a fuel conditioning station, and fuel storage vessels. Each system is designed to appropriately maintain the sodium-wetted fuel in an argon atmosphere (to prevent sodium reaction with moisture and oxygen) and control the temperature of the fuel assembly within the specified limits. Refueling experience has been used to decrease plant refueling time. Equipment utilization has exceeded original estimates because of changes in the irradiation program. Most of the fuel handling equipment has operated reliably, but with aging, some equipment upgrades are in progress or are being planned.