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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.
J. Buongiorno, J. Jurewicz, M. Golay, N. Todreas
Nuclear Technology | Volume 194 | Number 1 | April 2016 | Pages 1-14
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT15-49
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A new offshore floating nuclear plant (OFNP) concept with high potential for attractive economics and an unprecedented level of safety is presented. OFNP creatively combines state-of-the-art light water reactors and floating platforms similar to those used in offshore oil/gas operations. A reliable and cost-effective global supply chain exists for both technologies; therefore, robust expansion in the use of nuclear energy becomes possible on a timescale consistent with combating climate change in the near future. OFNP is a plant that can be entirely built within a floating platform in a shipyard; transferred to the site, where it is anchored within 12 nautical miles (22 km) off the coast in relatively deep water (≥100 m); and connected to the grid via submarine transmission cables. OFNP eliminates earthquakes and tsunamis as accident precursors; its ocean-based passive safety systems eliminate the loss of ultimate heat sink accident by design. The OFNP crews operate in monthly or semimonthly shifts with onboard living quarters, like on oil/gas platforms. OFNP is a reactor for the global market: It can be constructed in one country and exported internationally; it lends itself to a flexible and mobile electricity generation approach, which minimizes the need for indigenous nuclear infrastructure in the host country; and it does not commit the customer to a 40- to 60-year-long project.