b'1.3 SHOWCASE CAPABILITIESTHOR Advanced Fuel Test DevicePrincipal Investigator: Colby Jensen Team Members/Collaborators: Klint Anderson, Trevor Smuin, Jason Schulthess, Todd Birch, Ashley Lambson, Phil Peterson, Jordan Argyle, Clayton Turner, Sarah Khan, Randall Fielding, Devin Imholte, Scott Wilde, Austin Fleming, Nicolas Woolstenhulme, Andrew Chipman, Robert Armstrong, Matt Mihelish, Kelly Ellis, Sterling Morrill, Daniel Wachs and many more in the machine shops, HFEF, and TREATThe completeT he Transient Reactor TestTHOR capsule is a major accom-Facility (TREAT) was restartedplishment in R&D capability to nearly six years ago. Withbridge towards safe deployment of deployment of theit came the restoration of theadvanced-nuclear-fueled reactors. THOR test capsulemost straightforward and soundThe capsule and its infrastructure system, from fresh toapproach of harnessing fissionhave paved the way for bigger goals irradiated fuels, closespower to advance technology of thein upcoming experiments testing a significant gap fordensest power source available tohigh-burnup accident tolerant fuels TREAT and for themankind. To this day, significantand bringing the TREAT sodium sodium fast reactorstrides are being made to realize theloop online. Establishing the THOR fuels testbed to enablefull potential of TREAT throughtesting system across Idaho National the next generation ofdevelopment of multiple in-reactorLaboratory (INL) laboratories and nuclear reactors testbeds, which marry multipleteams is a crucial step for execution unique nuclear fuel designs to theirin this new era of fuel safety testing.specific applications. Four years in the making, the sodium fast reactorProject Description:fuel testbed has made a notable leapThe THOR capsule was born of a forward to tap TREATs promiselong-planned goal to restore tran-through the invention of thesient testing capabilities to qualify Temperature Heatsink Overpowersafe, high-performing nuclear fuels Response (THOR) capsule, and fullyfor reactors that are among the most establishing the framework andpower dense and providing the most engineered systems that realize itsefficient path to closing the fuel usage as a sophisticated researchcycle. The original concept was born and development (R&D) instru- in a proposal to support initiatives ment. Significant investment ofof TerraPower, but fully realized time, stress, intellect, consideration,starting in 2019 when Japanese ingenuity, and accountability incolleagues drafted a winning appli-a high-performance team havecation to share U.S. R&D infrastruc-accomplished this goaldemon- ture, using capability in TREAT, not strated by the first global transientavailable in their own country or irradiation of a high burnupanywhere else in the world (Figure uranium-plutonium composition1). The design of the capsule was fuel, in more than two decadesascreated to provide a sodium reactor part of an international collabora- environment with excellent heat tion with the Japan Atomic Energytransfer, high temperature perfor-Agency (JAEA) in July 2023. Themance, sophisticated in-situ data 14 2023|AFC ACCOMPLISHMENTS'