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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.
Dale T. Peters, Konrad J. A. Kundig, David F. Medley, Paul A. Enders
Nuclear Technology | Volume 104 | Number 2 | November 1993 | Pages 219-232
Technical Paper | Special Issue on Waste Management / Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A34885
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Copper and aluminum bronze have been shown to exhibit a high degree of kinetic stability in anticipated repository environments, including mildly oxidizing conditions under high gamma fields. The nature of the thermodynamic and kinetic stability of the metals is discussed. It is proposed that a robust, composite waste container composed of a copper mantle surrounding an inner shell of high-strength aluminum bronze would make the best use of the corrosion- and creep-related properties of the metals. Several designs and closure techniques are suggested. A bimetallic, centrifugally cast cylinder with a diameter and wall thickness appropriate to a high-level waste burial container has been produced. The advantages of the bimetallic casting are discussed, as are the potential multifunctional applications of composite containers of this type. Suggestions for future work are proposed. Creation of an“engineered analog” is suggested as an additional redundant safeguard in the proposed repository.