Antares will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to perform an independent, technical audit of Antares R1. ORNL’s Reactor Analysis Group will verify design calculations, including core neutronics and thermal hydraulics. This project will yield high confidence that hardware test campaigns predicated on neutronics data are valid, allowing Antares to move through test stages to a fueled demonstration of the system.
To help get ANA’s Project SparkHub off to a quick start, ANA will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to use the OR-SAGE tool to perform site screening and down select a number of sites that could be amenable to siting nuclear facilities. The sites will also be located in regions where there is strong incentive to build data centers. After the project, ANA will continue work and begin licensing activities to obtain an Early Site Permit on a technology-neutral basis to support development of the site.
Terrestrial Energy will partner with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) using their expertise in thermogravimetric analysis to analyze the IMSR fuel salt. This project will help determine what chemical species are present in the fuel salt vapor as a function of temperature and partial pressure, whether the fuel salt decomposes at elevated temperatures, and the kinetics of fuel salt vaporization. The work will support the optimization of the reactor components in the IMSR Core-unit as well as the overall design.
Entergy will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to implement real-time Generation Risk Assessment (GRA) modeling to address these issues. ORNL’s unique experience in implementing GRA models combined with the use of their Operational Performance Risk Assessment (OPRA) software will be used to integrate the model with real-time data. Entergy will roll out the model at one of its operating plants an if successful look to expand to other plants in their fleet.
Element Factory, LLC (Cheyenne, WY) will work with Idaho National Laboratory to ensure that graphite components will meet technical and regulatory requirements for use in nuclear reactors when they are produced through their novel process that uses different carbon sources.
Kanata America, Inc. (Cheyenne, WY) will collaborate with Sandia National Laboratories to improve the efficiency of their thermal energy storage and power conversion systems for future use in microreactors.
Westinghouse will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to perform an irradiation test and associated Post-Irradiation Examination (PIE) on a specific CMC to ensure it is a viable option for the eVinci microreactor prior to performing a larger irradiation campaign. The work will utilize the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at ORNL.
SHINE will work with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) to help integrate sensors into the MC&A requirements for SHINE’s flowsheets and perform modeling to define sensor placement and requirements.
GNF will partner with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to perform to perform electroreduction tests on various uranium oxide samples to understand product quality and impurities such that GNF can determine if it’s feasible to adopt into metallic fuel manufacturing.
The Remote Systems Group (RSG) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will perform a three-stage design review focused on operations, the detailed design, and a failure modes and effects analysis. Their experience base is uniquely valuable to MIGHTR and In-Vesel Fuel Handling Machine (IVFHM) development. This project will mitigate the risk of operational complexity by reviewing a critical system.