Triso particles are an alien-looking fuel with built-in safety features that will prevent reactor meltdowns

COURTESY OF X ENERGY

Nuclear ‘Power Balls’ May Make Meltdowns a Thing of the Past

Triso— short for “tristructural isotropic”—fuel is made from a mixture of low enriched uranium and oxygen, and it is surrounded by three alternating layers of graphite and a ceramic called silicon carbide. Each particle is smaller than a poppy seed, but its layered shell can protect the uranium inside from melting under even the most extreme conditions that could occur in a reactor.

There are other benefits too. Rather than needing to have miles of open space around a reactor, future plants running on triso fuel could be situated close to their users, Sell says. “It is physically impossible—as in, against the laws of physics—for triso to melt in a reactor,” says Sell. “And when you start with a reactor that can’t melt, your safety case completely changes.”

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The Energizer – Volume 87
on April 7, 2021 at 5:00 pm
INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS ANNOUNCE FORMATION OF CLEAN HYDROGEN FUTURE COALITION On 22 March 2021, a diverse group of energy industry stakeholders announced the formation of the Clean Hyd ...
No-Melt Nuclear ‘Power Balls’ Might Win A Few Hearts And Minds
on April 7, 2021 at 4:59 pm
Such a fuel already exists, and its time seems to have come. Triso — short for tristructural isotropic — takes the form of pellets the size of poppy seeds that are made of enriched uranium and ...
3D Printing Nuclear Reactors For Fun And Profit
on April 6, 2021 at 5:00 pm
As covered in the TCR fact sheet and on the ORNL TCR site, the micro reactor would use TRISO (uranium nitride) fuel particles, an yttrium hydride neutron moderator and the 3D printed core ...
The POWER Interview: X-energy’s Plan for Sustained Nuclear Growth
on April 3, 2021 at 4:39 pm
X-energy, a Maryland-based nuclear reactor and fuel design engineering company, is among several groups developing nuclear technologies to serve a host of purposes, from power generation to space ...
Advanced nuclear reactor planned north of Richland; first in the country
on April 1, 2021 at 4:21 pm
RICHLAND, Wash. – A new partnership was formed today to pave a historic path for nuclear, carbon-free energy in Washington. Energy Northwest, Grant County PUD and X-energy announced their TRi Energy ...

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US Defense Department eyes 2022 for microreactor build decision : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News
March 19, 2021
The Allure of TRISO Nuclear Fuel Explained - POWER magazine - POWER magazine
March 1, 2021
Partnership formed for advanced reactor deployment in Washington State : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News
April 6, 2021
The Energizer – Volume 87 | K&L Gates LLP - JDSupra - JD Supra
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Tristructural isotropic fuel

The Energizer – Volume 87
on April 8, 2021 at 4:59 pm
The Xe-100 is an 80MWe scalable high-temperature, gas cooled reactor capable of producing up to 320 MWe of electricity by using tristructural isotropic (TRISO) i particle fuel. The reactor is designed ...
No-Melt Nuclear ‘Power Balls’ Might Win A Few Hearts And Minds
on April 7, 2021 at 4:59 pm
Such a fuel already exists, and its time seems to have come. Triso — short for tristructural isotropic — takes the form of pellets the size of poppy seeds that are made of enriched uranium and ...
Chalk River, GE Hitachi Part of Canada’s Nuclear Focus
on April 1, 2021 at 1:14 am
Chrobak said the MMR uses USNC’s proprietary Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated (FCM) fuel, which enhances the already very high fission product retention of tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel. TRISO ...
BWXT and X-Energy selected to develop Project Pele mobile microreactor
on March 24, 2021 at 8:21 am
The prototype fourth-generation reactor will use TRISO (TRIstructural-ISOtropic) fuel to deliver 1-5 MWe of electrical power for at least three years of operation at full power. To enable rapid ...
BWXT and X-Energy selected to develop Project Pele mobile microreactor
on March 23, 2021 at 5:00 pm
The prototype fourth-generation reactor will use TRISO (TRIstructural-ISOtropic) fuel to deliver 1-5 MWe of electrical power for at least three years of operation at full power. To enable rapid ...