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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.
Simon Chung, Martin Stewart, Peter Wypych, David Hastie, Andrew Grima, Sam Moricca
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 4 | April 2025 | Pages 848-861
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2361190
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper introduces a novel approach to the bulk material handling of simulated radioactive material, focusing on the challenging Idaho calcine waste. Due to the limited availability of the simulant, virtual dynamic simulations were utilized to develop technology demonstration−scale models to assess the efficacy of the discrete element method (DEM) for process development studies. The DEM model was validated using historical experimental data, demonstrating its feasibility with affordable hardware. Acknowledging the limitations of computational analysis, the presented contact model is deemed adequate for preliminary engineering studies. This research advances bulk material handling and provides valuable insights for nuclear waste treatment processes, offering a pioneering framework for researchers working with the Idaho calcine simulant.