Between 1985 to 2015, U.S. uranium enrichment capacity fell to zero from 27.3 million Separative Work Units a year, while Russia’s Tenex became a world leader, increasing production to 26.6 million SWU a year from just 3 million in the mid-eighties. The Department of Energy (DOE) projects the U.S. market alone will need more than 40 metric tons of HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium), for the new generation of reactors by the end of the decade.
A lot of the effort is going into more advanced TRISO fuel pellets. What is TRISO Fuel? TRISO stands for TRi-structural ISOtropic particle fuel. Each TRISO particle is made up of a uranium, carbon and oxygen fuel kernel. The kernel is encapsulated by three layers of carbon- and ceramic-based materials that prevent the release of radioactive fission products.
X-energy and Kairos Power, along with the Department of Defense, are planning to use TRISO fuel for their designs—including some small modular and micro-reactor concepts. X-Energy Reactor Company subsidiary TRISO-X is developing key fuel fabrication processes as part of a team led by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems for the first phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program which is just coming to an end. The phase has involved two tracks, for which contracts were announced in 2021. The contract for Track A, a baseline design of a nuclear thermal rocket, or NTR, was awarded to General Atomics. Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin were contracted to work independently on the Track B contract, to develop an operational system concept to meet operational mission objectives and a demonstration system design with a focus on demonstrating the propulsion subsystem.
The next two phases of the DRACO programme will culminate in a flight demonstration, which DARPA envisions will take place in fiscal 2027. The next phase of the project will involve a cold flow test of the rocket engine without nuclear fuel. The project’s third phase involve assembly of the fueled NTR with the stage, environmental testing, and launch into space to conduct experiments on the NTR and its reactor.
TRISO fuel was first developed in the United States and United Kingdom in the 1960s with uranium dioxide fuel. In 2002, the Department of Energy (DOE) focused on improving TRISO fuel using uranium oxycarbide fuel kernels and enhancing its irradiation performance and manufacturing methods in order to further develop advanced high-temperature gas reactors.
In 2009, this improved TRISO fuel set an international record by achieving a 19% maximum burnup during a three-year test at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This is nearly double the previous mark set by the Germans in the 1980s and is three times the burnup that current light-water fuels can achieve—demonstrating its long-life capability.
The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has allocated over $350 billion in climate provisions, put aside an investment of $700 million to support the development of a domestic supply of HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium), the DOE finalized a key HALEU production contract with a Centrus subsidiary, and BWX Technologies began TRISO fuel production for the Department of Defense (DoD).
Of that $700 million, $500 million will go toward making HALEU for the first advanced reactors and establish the HALEU consortium, $100 million will be to design and license HALEU transportation systems, and the remaining $100 million will support the availability of HALEU for research, development, demonstration, and commercial use.
In September, the White House sent an ’emergency requirement’ to provide $1.5 billion for the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy to build a reliable supply of low-enriched uranium for existing plants and HALEU.
Centrus’ American Centrifuge Operating (ACO) has started work on its uranium enrichment centrifuges in Piketon, Ohio, through a cost-sharing contract with the DOE, while front runners for the U.S. HALEU plan include Global Laser Enrichment, French uranium enricher Orano, and the British-German-Dutch enricher Urenco.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
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