Access to federal laboratory will help solve ‘tough technical challenges’
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected two new projects that pair private industry with the federal Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to move cutting-edge nuclear technologies closer to real-world use.
ANL said the selections were made as part of the DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (Gain) programme, which operates primarily out of INL with the aim of accelerating the commercialisation of advanced nuclear technologies. It provides private-sector innovators with access to technical, regulatory and financial support and gives companies access to national laboratory expertise to solve tough technical challenges.
The new collaborations are with Zeno Power Systems, which has an engineering facility in Seattle, and Idaho-based NuCube Energy.
Zeno Power Systems builds radioisotope power systems – long-lasting power sources for national security, space exploration and remote sensing. One promising heat source, strontium-90, is found in used nuclear fuel and is currently stored as waste.
Zeno will work with Argonne scientists and engineers to test a new separation method that recovers strontium-90 from complex chemical mixtures created during used-fuel recycling. Argonne’s chemical and fuel cycle Technologies division has decades of experience designing these types of separation processes.
NuCube Energy is developing microreactors to deliver high-temperature process heat of more than 1,000°C and reliable electricity for industrial, remote and off-grid applications. ANL said demonstrating safe, reliable autonomous operation with substantially reduced onsite staffing is important for deployment.
NuCube Energy will work with Argonne scientists to verify an autonomous control architecture using a digital twin of its DeccaCell reactor. Argonne will adapt its existing framework to demonstrate automated startup, remote monitoring and predictive maintenance in simulated environments.
