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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.
B. A. Gusev, I. S. Orlenkov, L. N. Moskvin, N. G. Sandler, A. A. Efimov, А. M. Aleshin, V. V. Krivobokov, V. N. Vavilkin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 5 | May 2020 | Pages 791-803
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1693216
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The technologies and chemical solutions for decontamination of high-power reactors are limited for use in small-scale power generation due to fundamental differences in operating conditions, fuel composition, fuel-element cladding structure, coolant water chemistry, and structural materials. The small space of the primary circuit and specific design and operational features have made it necessary to optimize the decontamination technologies for different stages of the naval rector plant (NRP) life cycle. Based on many years’ experience in maintenance, repair, and operation of NRPs, the principles for optimization of the process approaches are defined to reduce radioactive contamination of NRP equipment. In each particular case the decontamination technology is selected with due consideration for the NRP’s design, actual radioactive contamination, and the requirements for the cleanliness of the primary system after decontamination. This makes it possible to optimize the number of treatment cycles/stages and reagent consumption and to minimize the probability of recurrent deposit formation and the liquid radwaste amount.