TRISO-X LLC , a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC that primarily develops and designs tri-structural isotropic particle fuel, announced the successful test of its coated particle fuel for nuclear thermal propulsion applications, marking a major step toward a one-of-a-kind, nuclear-powered rocket. TRISO-X was tapped to develop key fuel fabrication processes as part of a team led by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) for the first phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program, which concludes this month.
“We are thrilled to meet this crucial milestone that will help to enable the prospective deployment of a nuclear-thermal-propulsion-based rocket,” said Dr. Pete Pappano, President of TRISO-X. “The high-temperature resilience of our coated particle fuel bolsters TRISO-X’s position as the domestic leader in the fabrication, testing and commercialization of coated-particle fuel systems for both power and space applications. This is a key demonstration of the robust properties and performance of our coated particle fuel, demonstrating the fuel’s design to be melt-down proof under any foreseeable scenario.”
With the participation of NASA, the successful test took place at the Marshall Space Flight Center in the Compact Fuel Element Environmental Test (CFEET) facility. The TRISO-X fabricated fuel was tested in extreme conditions representing those experienced in space. The test was the first time TRISO-X’S—or, to TRISO-X’s knowledge, any— coated particle fuel was tested to these conditions. The fuel was cycled rapidly and repeatedly to more than 2,000 degrees Celsius with the temperature fluctuating hundreds of degrees per minute and held at those temperatures to replicate conditions anticipated during space missions, while maintaining its integrity.
TRISO-X occupies a laboratory located on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory campus in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where it has leased research and laboratory space since 2016. TRISO-X broke ground last year in Oak Ridge on its commercial-sale Fuel Fabrication Facility (“TF3”), which is expected to be fully operational in 2025. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission formally docketed the facility license application in 2022 and its licensing review is ongoing.
SOURCE: Businesswire