Some jobs are just cooler than others and these researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have a pretty sweet gig.
They test the failure points of nuclear materials in order to develop new fuel rods for the nation’s commercial fleet of reactors.
Sounds pretty cool, huh?
It is, and it all happens right here at the lab’s Severe Accident Test Station, also known as SATS.
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SATS is an important facility in helping the industry develop new fuels that can survive longer under accident conditions.
It primarily serves the U.S. Department of Energy’s accident tolerant fuel program by studying the separate and combined effects that lead to fuel failure in light-water reactor fuels.
Framatome, GE and Westinghouse are all using this data to help commercialize these new fuels, which could also boost the reactor performance of today’s fleet.
View the full story and watch the video at the official Office of Nuclear Energy site.