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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.
August W. Cronenberg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 97 | Number 1 | January 1992 | Pages 97-112
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34629
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Zircaloy oxidation and hydrogen generation data for the loss-of-fluid test (LOFT) FP-2 test are presented and compared with findings from other severe fuel damage experiments. In the LOFT FP-2 test, the majority of hydrogen generation occurred as a consequence of bundle reflooding, where significant hydrogen production was also noted in other reflood experiments and in the Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident. Common findings also indicate that during fuel uncovery, bundle oxidation is largely controlled by steam supply conditions, that high rates of hydrogen production continue after melt formation and relocation, and that partial flow-area blockages do not drastically reduce the rates of hydrogen production. Tests results thus indicate no apparent limitations to Zircaloy oxidation other than that due to steam supply conditions and known reaction kinetics, and that the potential for significant hydrogen generation exists during reflooding of cores containing molten metallic debris.