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.
Gabriel Ghita, Glenn Sjoden, James Baciak
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 2 | November 2009 | Pages 310-316
Neutron Measurements | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (Part 2) / Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9200
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We propose here a unique, patented shield design that transforms the complex neutron spectrum from a plutonium-beryllium (PuBe) neutron source to nearly the precise neutron signature leaking from a sphere of weapons-grade plutonium (WGPu) material. This will facilitate testing for detection of a significant quantity of weapons plutonium without the expense or risk of testing detector components with real materials. The Monte Carlo (MCNP5) and Deterministic (PENTRAN) computational codes have been used in developing the shield assembly. A nickel composite alloy shield for a PuBe capsule has been designed, built, and laboratory-tested to enable the neutron leakage spectrum from a standard 1-Ci PuBe source (mean energy of 4.6 MeV) to be transformed, through interactions in the shield, into a very close reproduction of the neutron spectrum leaking from a large, subcritical mass of WGPu metal (average neutron energy of 2.1 MeV). Nearly all current calibrations of neutron detectors use 252Cf for generation of a fission neutron spectrum, which decays with a half-life of [approximately]2.7 yr and is very expensive to procure. By converting to this design, PuBe sources relying on 239Pu (T1/2 = 24110 yr) and lasting hundreds of years could then be used to precisely calibrate and test detectors for simulated WGPu neutrons. Alternative custom designs are also possible with further transport-based modeling.