Researchers at the US Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are preparing to test advanced fuel developed by GE Vernova that could help boost the performance of nuclear power plants and reduce the quantity of used nuclear fuel. Fuel assemblies were recently shipped to the lab after spending six years in a commercial reactor as part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) programme.
GE Vernova’s Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF) initially loaded eight assemblies into a commercial reactor for two 24-month cycles of operation and they were later relicensed and reinserted into the reactor for continued exposure.
GNF said in February 2018 that it had manufactured and shipped batches of test assemblies of its IronClad and Armor ATFs for installation at Southern Nuclear Operating Company’s two-unit Hatch NPP in early 2018. The lead test assemblies were engineered and manufactured at GNF’s facility in Wilmington, North Carolina. GNF was working with both Southern Nuclear and Exelon Generation to insert lead test assemblies utilising an iron-chromium-aluminum fuel cladding material (IronClad) and coated zirconium fuel cladding (Armor) into several reactors. The IronClad lead test assemblies were the first fuel developed through the DOE Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel programme to be installed in a commercial nuclear reactor.
The high burnup fuel rods shipped to PNNL include full length and partial length rods – a feature unique to boiling water reactor (BWR) fuels. The fuel pellets inside the rods contain gadolinium, which absorbs neutrons to improve the utilisation of the fissile content in the fuel throughout the fuel cycle.
The assemblies were removed in 2023 and recently shipped to PNNL for examination to further evaluate performance. “The examination of these rods is the next step in our continuous drive to develop higher efficiency fuels that are safer and more reliable,” said Craig Ranson, Installed Base CEO, GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy. “We are proud to be part of this collaboration with the Department of Energy, PNNL and our utility partners to benefit the entire industry.”
“This is a significant milestone for our Accident Tolerant Fuel programme,” said Frank Goldner, the Accident Tolerant Fuel federal programme manager at DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. “The development of this fuel could further support the Trump Administration’s executive order to facilitate five gigawatts of power uprates at existing power plants by 2030 and high burnup fuels could be a big part of that.”
GE Vernova is developing several advanced fuel products through the DOE’s ATFl programme to help improve fuel cycle economics through lower operational costs and improved plant safety. PNNL will conduct post-irradiation experiments over the next several years on the high burnup assemblies at its Radiochemical Processing Laboratory. Similar work is also underway on the company’s high burnup fuel at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The data will be used to support the development, engineering, and licensing efforts of the company’s fuel to higher exposures.
“This delivery represents a rare and valuable opportunity,” said Mark Nutt, director of PNNL’s nuclear energy market sector. “We look forward to realising the full scientific potential of this material – that’s an area where PNNL is especially capable, given our multidisciplinary strengths. The resulting research could help achieve several important goals in service to the nation and go a long way toward providing abundant and reliable energy to the grid allowing for US energy dominance.”
GE Vernova, Framatome, and Westinghouse are all testing fuel concepts in commercial reactors across the US with the goal of widespread adoption by 2030.
