2022年12月9日

根据一项新宣布的协议，用于赫尔墨斯示范反应堆的TRISO燃料鹅卵石将在新墨西哥州实验室的低浓燃料制造设施(LEFFF)生产。这是Kairos Power的核燃料开发“快速迭代方法”中的第一次核迭代，也是LEFFF的第一次核燃料开发活动。总部位于加州的Kairos Power公司正致力于采用快速迭代开发方法将其氟化盐冷却高温反应堆(KP-FHR)技术商业化。将在田纳西州橡树岭建造的Hermes示范反应堆的建设许可证申请目前正在接受美国核管理委员会的正式审查。Kairos表示，“协同合作伙伴关系”将其燃料制造专业知识与洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室(LANL)的设施和能力相结合。该实验室靠近Kairos在阿尔伯克基的测试和制造设施，该公司正在开发将在LEFFF中实施的制造工艺。Kairos Power的首席技术官Ed Blandford表示，Kairos和LANL的员工将在LEFFF并肩工作，为反应堆生产燃料鹅卵石。他说:“与洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室的合作将成为Kairos Power的催化剂，从我们的Hermes示范反应堆开始，为KP-FHR技术建立一个工业规模燃料生产的可靠途径。”该公司燃料和材料高级总监Micah Hackett表示，Pebble开发实验室和即将投入使用的TRISO开发实验室的迭代原型和创新将成为合作工作的组成部分。他补充说:“通过这些早期的迭代，我们正在优化我们的流程，并吸取宝贵的经验教训，这些经验教训将应用到我们的核燃料计划中。” Manufacturing fuel for Hermes in partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory will allow Kairos Power to better control product quality, schedule, and cost, and yield experience that will inform future iterations in its nuclear fuel development programme, the company said, and investing in LEFFF aligns its vertical integration strategy to build a robust and reliable supply chain. LEFFF is a multi-disciplinary customer user facility designed to support multiple nuclear fuel development campaigns, and Kairos is its first partner. "The facility is a critical tool for the nation to mature fuel technology for the advancement of clean energy," LEFFF Team Leader Timothy Coons said. "LEFFF's mission is to provide the necessary utilities and authorisation basis for a multi-disciplinary set of customers to mature and accelerate their fuel needs. This first partnership between LEFFF and Kairos Power demonstrates the commitment of both organisations to accelerate advanced clean energy solutions." TRISO - standing for TRIstructural-ISOtropic - fuel comprises spherical kernels of enriched uranium oxycarbide (or uranium dioxide) surrounded by layers of carbon and silicon carbide, giving a containment for fission products which is stable up to very high temperatures. Hermes will use "pebbles" of fuel made from TRISO particles. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics