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.
Join us on November 22 for a webinar on PROtect, Framatome’s enhanced accident tolerant fuel (EATF) program. Petra-Britt Hoffman, a senior expert in irradiation behavior of fuel rods and fuel assembly structural materials, will discuss Framatome’s near-term and long-term solutions as part of the PROtect program. Learn more and register.
The test marked the return of a capability that is critical to the United States’ role in the development of nuclear fuels, for both the existing fleet and a new generation of advanced reactors under design.
Entergy will insert the lead use rods into ANO unit 1 — a 836 MWe pressurised water reactor — in late 2019.
The U.S. Department of Energy is working with industry to quickly develop new fuels with enhanced accident tolerance. These nuclear fuels will not only increase the safety of today’s light-water reactors but also improve plant performance at a crucial time for the U.S. nuclear industry. A number of reactors are currently under economic stress and…