• TRISO fuel progress for US reactor pilot programme TRISO 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. • Thousands of these poppy seed-sized particles (see picture above) are then combined into compact fuel forms used in advanced reactors. • BWX Technologies (BWXT) said that fuel fabrication for Antares Nuclear began in October at its Lynchburg Speciality Fuels Fabrication facility, and when ready it will be shipped to Idaho National Laboratory, where Antares is building its pilot reactor. • Jordan Bramble, president and CEO of Antares, said: “By using a TRISO fuel specification and compact that BWXT knows well through the Pele programme, we’re building on an established, high-confidence manufacturing foundation.” Last week California-based Antares announced that the US Department of Energy (DOE) had formally approved its Preliminary Safety Analysis for its demonstration reactor - Mark-0 - which is scheduled to go live before 4 July. • It said the demonstration was “a critical step toward generating electricity from advanced microreactors”, saying it uses a full-scale core “and the same facility and fuel that will support our next reactor test in 2027”. • The company announced on Thursday that it is more than doubling the size of its headquarters, from 145,000 square feet to 322,000 square feet, to allow integration of design, manufacturing and testing.

Article Summaries:

  • BWX Technologies (BWXT) has begun fabricating TRISO fuel for Antares Nuclear’s pilot reactor, with production starting in October at its Lynchburg facility and planned shipment to Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Antares recently received U.S. Department of Energy approval for the Preliminary Safety Analysis of its Mark‑0 demonstration microreactor, slated to go online before July 4. The company is doubling its headquarters to support design, manufacturing and testing of its sodium‑heat‑pipe‑cooled R1 microreactor, which can deliver 100 kWe to 1 MWe and scale to multi‑MWe microgrids. BWXT also shipped HALEU TRISO fuel for INL’s Project Pele prototype, using NRC‑certified OPTIMUS‑L packaging.

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