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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.
C. D. Fletcher, L. S. Ghan, J. C. Determan, H. H. Nielsen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 106 | Number 1 | April 1994 | Pages 31-45
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A34948
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A system model of the Advanced Neutron Source Reactor (ANSR) has been developed and used to perform conceptual safety analyses. To better represent thermal-hydraulic behavior in the unique geometry and conditions of the ANSR core, three specific changes in the RELAP5/MOD3 computer code were implemented: a turbulent forced-convection heat transfer correlation, a critical heat flux correlation, and an interfacial drag correlation. The system model includes representations of the ANSR core, heat exchanger coolant loops, and the pressurizing and letdown systems. Analyses of ANSR station blackout and loss-of-flow accident scenarios are described. The results show that the core can survive without exceeding the flow excursion or critical heat flux thermal limits defined for the conceptual safety analysis, if the proper mitigation options are provided.