AMPERA has announced a strategic partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to develop advanced nuclear fuel manufacturing technology that could support a new generation of compact and subcritical nuclear energy systems.
The project will focus on developing a scalable process for producing highly uniform thorium-232 fuel particles for use in TRISO, or Tri-Structural Isotropic, nuclear fuel. According to AMPERA, the collaboration is part of its broader strategy to establish a domestic supply chain for advanced nuclear fuel and eventually support its own compact, factory-built nuclear power systems.
The partnership will evaluate and optimize a manufacturing technique known as liquid-metal jetting. Rather than relying solely on conventional particle-production methods, the approach uses droplet-based technology to produce highly uniform, spherical thorium kernels, the central particles that could eventually form part of TRISO fuel.
The project will combine computational modeling, materials testing, nozzle compatibility studies, high-temperature process development, and particle characterization. The teams will also work on establishing scalable manufacturing rules that could support future commercialization.
The research builds on earlier work at LLNL, where researchers developed a particle-production prototype using droplet-based liquid-metal-jetting technology.
“Public-private projects like this show the value of connecting LLNL’s world-class research capabilities with industry partners who have a clear technology need and sharp commercial focus,” said Dr. Viktor Sukhotskiy, research engineer and principal investigator at LLNL. The collaboration will also continue work on maturing liquid-metal jetting as an advanced manufacturing technology.
Why TRISO fuel matters
TRISO fuel is designed around tiny fuel particles protected by multiple layers of specialized materials. Those layers are intended to contain fission products and provide a robust fuel form for advanced reactor designs.
AMPERA’s project focuses specifically on producing spherical thorium-232 kernels with consistent size and characteristics, an important requirement for fuel manufacturing.
The company says it is developing proprietary liquid-metal-jetting processes and currently has more than 60 patents covering aspects of the technology, along with additional patent filings related specifically to advanced TRISO fuel manufacturing.
AMPERA announced its broader advanced fuel strategy in June, outlining plans to support the development of a secure thorium fuel supply chain and future domestic production capabilities.
Fuel for a compact subcritical reactor
The fuel development project is directly connected to AMPERA’s plans for a subcritical micronuclear reactor platform. Unlike a conventional reactor, AMPERA says its proposed system would rely on an external neutron source to initiate and sustain operation. The company believes this approach could provide an additional layer of operational control while enabling alternative fuel-cycle designs.
The eventual goal is to develop compact nuclear energy systems for applications including data centers, defense installations, industrial facilities and maritime operations.
AMPERA says its platform is being designed to operate for up to 30 years without refueling. Earlier this year, the company also unveiled what it described as a full-scale, additively manufactured demonstration module of its nuclear core architecture. The spherical structure, featuring a monolithic gyroid design, was 3D printed from silicon carbide.
AMPERA’s work with LLNL could help connect advanced manufacturing techniques with a domestic thorium-based fuel supply chain designed for the next generation of compact nuclear power systems.