Nuclear

Westinghouse partnership to further production of advanced nuclear reactor fuels

The nuclear power giant is partnering with Urenco and X-energy to complete a FEED study regarding TRISO fuel production to support potential high-temperature gas-cooled reactors under development.
Westinghouse partnership to further production of advanced nuclear reactor fuels
(Graphics blocks in the core of an advanced gas-cooled reactor. Image courtesy of EDF.)

Westinghouse was awarded a grant from the United Kingdom’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to support the development of advanced nuclear fuel.

The nuclear power giant is partnering with Urenco to complete a pre-front end engineering design (FEED) study regarding TRISO fuel production to support potential high-temperature gas-cooled reactors that are under development.

The work will occur at Westinghouse’s Springfields fuels facility in Preston, Lancashire.

“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,” said Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse President and CEO.

TRISO, or Tri-structural Isotropic, is made up of a poppy seed-sized carbon and oxygen fuel kernel. The kernel is encapsulated by three layers of carbon- and ceramic-based materials that prevent the release of radioactive fission products, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The small kernels are considered to have very “robust” energy capabilities and be very flexible in application.

TRISO fuel is intended to be tough enough handle the higher operating temperatures of advanced reactors.

Westinghouse will also receive support on this study from TRISO-X, a subsidiary of X-energy. Maryland-based X-energy is working to develop its Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor design and TRISO-X particle fuel.

X-energy now plans to try to license the reactor through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The goal is to have a unit operational by 2028, starting with a 320 MW four-unit Xe-100 power plant in Washington state.

X-energy also recently broke ground on a pilot-scale nuclear fuel facility at Oak Ridge to further develop its TRISO-X fuel and support the Xe-100 design.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said the fuel fabrication facility has the capacity to produce eight metric tons per year of TRISO pebble fuel, enough to power 12 of X-energy’s proposed Xe-100 SMRs. The facility would also be capable of manufacturing TRISO fuel for other advanced reactor designs. X-energy said it plans to double its fuel production by the 2030s.

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