en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 13, TRISO-X, the nuclear fuel manufacturer under X-energy, extended its research and development collaboration with the U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) by 30 months, focusing on advancing the scaled manufacturing, quality control, and commercial reactor applications of tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel. The two parties have been collaborating since 2016, and TRISO-X continues to use ORNL's pilot fuel fabrication line.
The core of TRISO fuel is a submillimeter uranium oxycarbide kernel, with uranium enrichment levels meeting high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) standards, meaning uranium-235 content ranges between 5% and 20%. During this extended period, TRISO-X will continue to use the pilot fabrication facility at ORNL, focusing on improving the uniformity of coating layers and single-cycle yield for each fuel batch, as well as enhancing non-destructive testing techniques. In addition to the standard design, the team is also testing alternative geometries such as cylindrical compacts and spherical graphite pebbles to accommodate different reactor cores.
Through the pilot line, TRISO-X has passed key technical milestones and regulatory approvals. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a Part 70 license for the facility, permitting the handling and processing of HALEU materials. Fuel samples produced at the pilot plant have been shipped to the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory, where high-flux neutron irradiation is used to verify the integrity of the ceramic coating layers under real reactor conditions.
This fuel will be used in X-energy's Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. The Xe-100 uses helium as a coolant, and its core consists of graphite pebbles containing thousands of TRISO particles. Because radioactive fission products are encapsulated within the ceramic shell, the fuel possesses strong inherent safety characteristics, eliminating the need for large secondary containment structures.
Parent company X-energy has also purchased approximately 70 acres of land adjacent to the TRISO-X site in Oak Ridge's Horizon Center industrial park, expanding the total footprint to over 180 acres. The additional land will be used for utility lines, equipment storage, and material storage, while also leaving room for the construction of the TX-2 commercial plant and the TX-L dedicated research facility adjacent to the main TX-1 plant currently under construction. The latter is funded by Tennessee's Nuclear Energy Supply Chain Investment Fund.
TRISO-X President Joel Duling stated that ORNL is a key partner in translating years of TRISO fuel research into commercial manufacturing capabilities, and extending the collaboration will help continue advancing fuel technology, strengthening the U.S. nuclear fuel supply chain, and supporting next-generation reactor deployment. ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer noted that combining ORNL's expertise in nuclear materials and fuel development with TRISO-X's manufacturing capabilities will drive TRISO fuel production and support next-generation nuclear energy.
