Sandia Gets $3.38 Million to Build Tools for Next-Gen Nuclear Fuel

The U.S. Department of Energy will give Sandia National Laboratories $3.38 million to build analytical tools that support the production and deployment of nuclear fuels for next-generation reactors. The department announced the selection Friday at a news conference held at Albuquerque's National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.

Sandia's project carries the name Transuranic Reactor-fuel Pathways for Sociotechnical Analysis, Technoeconomics, and Harmonization, or TRU-PATH. The lab said the project will develop an analytical platform to evaluate safety, nuclear safeguards and other issues tied to scaling up production of advanced reactor fuels.

Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said Sandia has a record of tackling difficult technical problems. "This investment will build on Sandia's capabilities to help fuel developers overcome the barriers to commercial-scale manufacturing and turn promising nuclear fuel technologies into practical solutions," Williams said.

Deborah Frincke, Sandia's deputy laboratories director for integrated security missions, said the project centers on energy safety. "This project is purpose-driven to look at what brings the nation the safest and most secure energy solutions," Frincke said. "Sandia's role focuses on designing a safety and security framework for recycling transuranic fuel and leverages our long history of nuclear research."

Sandia said its TRU-PATH work will address questions tied to moving emerging fuel technologies toward practical use, and will support wider Department of Energy efforts to strengthen domestic nuclear fuel capabilities. The announcement follows a Pentagon statement that American military bases will generate their own power through microgrids and a small nuclear reactor.