Delivering fuel solutions for the next generation of reactors
The Nuclear Fuel Development Section at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is advancing the future of nuclear energy by accelerating how the U.S. develops, tests, and qualifies fuels and materials for currently operating and next-generation reactors.
With unmatched capabilities spanning fuel fabrication, irradiation testing, and post-irradiation examination, the ORNL’s nuclear fuel development team are bridging research and real-world deployment and addressing a national priority to advance nuclear energy through innovative nuclear fuels and materials technologies.
Driven to develop and qualify new nuclear fuels and materials
Driven to develop and qualify new nuclear fuels and materials
The Nuclear Fuel Development section is uniquely positioned to advance fuel concepts across the fuel development lifecycle, leveraging ORNL’s on-site expertise and capabilities to:
- Fabricate fuels of all architectures
- Design and execute irradiation experiments in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR)
- Populate property databases for molten salts, fuels and reactor materials under reactor conditions
- Conduct post-irradiation examination (PIE) and materials testing
- Deploy sensors and electronic components in extreme temperature, corrosion and irradiation environments
- Develop quality assurance and control methods and protocols for industry use
Innovative research supporting national priorities
The team’s research spans a wide range of high-impact areas, including:
- Using smarter experimental design and data modeling to demonstrate methods for accelerated fuel qualification.
- Using advanced manufacturing methods to enable novel fuel and component designs for extreme environments.
- Providing leadership in the use of HFIR to irradiate materials and accelerate the qualification of new fuels and structural materials.
- Leading development of TRI-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) and other coated-particle fuels for power, space, and defense reactors.
- Supporting safer, more resilient fuels for today’s commercial reactors through the accident tolerant fuel testing.
- Revitalizing in-situ measurement capabilities, including embedded sensors, to capture real-time fuel behavior during irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor.
Enabling science through specialized infrastructure
The section’s work is supported by world-class facilities and tools including several hot cells for post irradiation examination of fuel from commercial reactors, and additive manufacturing tools for creating custom components for use in extreme environments.
- Several hot cell facilities enable detailed characterization of structural materials and nuclear fuels following irradiation.
- ORNL is also home to the Coated Particle Fuel Development Lab, a novel facility for fabricating and characterizing particle fuels.
- These capabilities are further leveraged through access to ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor, or HFIR, the strongest reactor-based neutron source in the U.S.
Collaborating to accelerate commercialization and deployment
The section plays key roles in collaborative projects to advance the readiness of emerging technologies and fuel forms within several partnerships with industry and key Department of Energy programs.
- Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel Development Program: Leading the fuel fabrication, safety testing, and post irradiation examination efforts to qualify coated particle fuels, in coordination with Idaho National Laboratory and BWXT.
- TRISO-X Pilot Line: Collaborative effort to scale TRISO fuel fabrication for commercial use through a cooperative research and development agreement.
- Accident Tolerant Fuel Qualification Program: Conducting post irradiation examination and supporting the qualification of new cladding materials alongside Idaho National Laboratory, GE, Westinghouse, and Framatome.
- Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program: Supporting various industry partners, including BWXT, TerraPower, and Kairos Power, through with experimental design, material testing, and fuel development capacity.
Fueled by innovation
The Nuclear Fuel Development Section is advancing nuclear materials and accelerating fuel qualification through groundbreaking research—achieving key technical milestones along the way. Recent advances include:
- Use of MiniFuel Irradiation Capabilities to Accelerate Qualification of Nuclear Fuels: Demonstrated how accelerated fuel qualification techniques can identify performance cliffs in uranium-molybdenum (U-10Mo) fuels and expand the operating window for conventional TRISO fuels, reducing testing time and cost for new fuel architectures.
- Next-Gen Irradiation Capsule Design: Designed and successfully deployed the “tubular SSJ” specimen capsule in HFIR, expanding testing capabilities for small-scale specimens under realistic reactor conditions
- Hot Cell Innovation via Additive Manufacturing: Leveraging 3D printing to produce custom components for fixturing in hot cell facilities, enhancing efficiency and adaptability in shielded environments.
