ANEEL™ Fuel Irradiation Begins in the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Lab
CHICAGO, April 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clean Core Thorium Energy (Clean Core) announced today that the accelerated irradiation testing and qualification of their patented ANEEL™ Fuel is set to begin in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The fuel, made of thorium and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), was developed by Clean Core for use in pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) and Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU) reactors. Its insertion into one of the US government’s premier material testing facilities represents a key milestone in the company’s multi-year, multimillion-dollar joint effort with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to design, fabricate, and assemble the irradiation experiment.
- CHICAGO, April 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clean Core Thorium Energy (Clean Core) announced today that the accelerated irradiation testing and qualification of their patented ANEEL™ Fuel is set to begin in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
- In 2022, Clean Core signed a Strategic Partnership Project Agreement with INL to design and execute an irradiation experiment in ATR to demonstrate and assess the performance of Clean Core’s innovative Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life (ANEEL™) fuel.
- Upon receipt, INL developed the irradiation test plan, performed pre-irradiation characterization of the fuel pellets, designed and fabricated the experiment hardware and test trains, assembled the test trains, and finally inserted the experiment into the ATR.
- “Clean Core is focused on the efficient development and deployment of the ANEEL fuel in heavy water reactors, without any modifications to the fuel bundle geometry or the reactor.