ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 15–18, 2026
Phoenix, AZ|Arizona Grand Resort & Spa
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
September 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
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.
Hiroshi Sugai, Kenzo Munakata
Nuclear Technology | Volume 99 | Number 2 | August 1992 | Pages 235-241
Technical Paper | Enrichment and Reprocessing System | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34693
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In solvent extraction for nuclear fuel reprocessing, a stable emulsion called “crud” is formed at the interface between the organic and aqueous phases. Crud is an emulsion stabilized by finely dispersed solids. Process disturbances are often induced by crud. Accordingly, crud should be eliminated from the interface in the extractors. The eliminated crud is stable and highly radioactive; thus, the treatment of this crud may be difficult. Complexes of zirconium and tributyl phosphate (TBP) degradation products, such as phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and mono-n-butyl phosphate (H2MBP), are one source of the fine particles that stabilize emulsions in the extraction process. A chemical treatment method to demulsify crud stabilized by precipitates of Zr-H3PO4 and Zr-H2MBP is studied. Experimental results indicate that neutralization by an alkaline solution, particularly sodium carbonate, is very effective for the destruction of this crud.