The work is part of HORNIG, a program administered by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy that provides up to $50 million for next-generation nuclear fuel research. The program supports technologies using materials recovered from used nuclear fuel and other sources.
Sandia’s project, known as TRU-PATH, will examine the broader conditions needed to bring these fuels into practical use. Other HORNIG projects will address fuel design, fabrication, testing and qualification.
“This project is purpose-driven to look at what brings the nation the safest and most secure energy solutions,” said Deborah Frincke, Sandia’s deputy laboratories director for integrated security missions. “Sandia’s role focuses on designing a safety and security framework for recycling transuranic fuel and leverages our long history of nuclear research.”
The analytical platform is intended to help developers identify constraints that could affect both manufacturing and deployment. That assessment will bring technical and economic considerations together with the safety and safeguards requirements associated with expanding production.
Brandon Williams, DOE’s under secretary for nuclear security and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, recognized the selection during a news conference at Albuquerque’s National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Frincke joined him at the event.
“Sandia National Laboratories has a long history of solving some of our nation’s toughest technical challenges, and its expertise will be essential to advancing America’s nuclear renaissance,” Williams said. “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.”
