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 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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.
J. L. Tripp, J. D. Law, T. E. Smith, V. J. Rutledge, W. F. Bauer, R. D. Ball, P. A. Hahn
Nuclear Technology | Volume 189 | Number 3 | March 2015 | Pages 301-311
Technical Paper | Radioisotopes | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-5
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Historical nuclear fuel cycle process sampling techniques required sample volumes ranging in the tens of milliliters. The radiation levels experienced by analytical personnel and equipment, in addition to the waste volumes generated from analysis of these samples, have been significant. These sample volumes also impacted accountability inventories of required analytes during process operations. To mitigate radiation dose and other issues associated with the historically larger sample volumes, a microcapillary sample chip was chosen for further investigation. The ability to obtain microliter sample volumes coupled with a remote automated means of sample loading, tracking, and transporting to the analytical instrument would greatly improve analytical efficiency while reducing both personnel exposure and radioactive waste volumes. Sample chip testing was completed to determine the accuracy, repeatability, and issues associated with the use of microfluidic sample chips used to supply microliter sample volumes of lanthanide analytes dissolved in nitric acid for introduction to an analytical instrument for elemental analysis.