Westinghouse has been awarded a grant by the U.K. government to complete a Pre-Front End Engineering Design study for production of tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuels at its Springfields facility in Preston, Lancashire. They will be collaborating with Urenco. The grant came through the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Westinghouse will consider a secure and reliable supply of tristructural TRISO fuels to support a ranges of potential high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) technologies under development. They will also receive support on this study from TRISO-X LLC which is a wholly owned subsidiary of X-energy of the U.S. The amount of the grant was not disclosed.
TRISO fuel is able to withstand very high temperatures. It is used for high temperature reactors which typically operate at fourteen hundred to seventeen hundred degrees Fahrenheit. TRISO fuel particles are each less than one millimeter in diameter. They contain a center of enriched oxycarbide surrounded by layers of carbon and silicon carbide. This provides containment for fission products which is stable to over twenty-nine hundred degrees Fahrenheit. It has been called the most robust nuclear fuel in the world.
Patrick Fragman is the President and CEO of Westinghouse. He said, “This award is an important step in creating commercial-scale advanced fuel production in the UK at our Springfields facility for the reactors of tomorrow. We look forward to partnering with Urenco for their global leadership in enrichment, in support of UK energy security and net-zero carbon goals. We also welcome the support of TRISO-X and their valuable experience in the fabrication of advanced TRISO fuels.”
Boris Schucht is the CEO of Urenco. He said, “Security of energy supply and realizing crucial climate change goals requires the evolution of the nuclear fuel cycle. This includes a focus on producing the next generation of fuels. Urenco is committed to this development and is pleased to be collaborating with the UK nuclear industry and government to achieve an enhanced service for global utilities and wider benefits for society."
Pete Pappano is the CEO of TRISO-X. He said, “The deployment of next generation TRISO fuel manufacturing in Springfields is an important step toward the UK's decarbonization and energy independence goals. TRISO-X is pleased to bring our state-of-the-art process knowledge to support this grant.”
Earlier this month, TRISO-X broke ground for North America’s first commercial-scale advanced nuclear fuel facility in Oak Ridge, TN. The new TRISO-X Fuel Fabrication Facility (TF3) will be commissioned and operational by 2025. At first, it will produce eight tons of fuel each year to support about sixteen advanced reactors. Production will increase to sixteen tons per year by the early 2030s.
On September 2nd of this year, the U.K. government announced a three million eight hundred thousand dollar grant to support the development of advanced nuclear technology. The grant came through the Advanced Modular Reactor Research, Development and Demonstration program which is part of the four hundred and fifty million dollars Advanced Nuclear Fund. This money will support the development of innovative nuclear technology in the U.K. such as HTGRs. They hope to demonstrate HTGR technology by the early 2030s.
Under this funding, Springfields Fuel Ltd is receiving two hundred and eighty thousand dollars to determine the most effective route for the secure and reliable supply of coated fuel particles to support the ranges of potential HTGR technologies which may develop in the U.K. Their study will focus on UCO-kernel TRISO as the standard CPF fuel type for contemporary HTGR designs but will design the facility for maximum flexibility to manufacture a wide range of variations on this fuel.