b'INTEGRATED Energy Fuel Cycle SOLUTIONSPART OF DEVELOPING the next generation of nuclear fuels is both making sure high- INL researcher selected for DOEs Early Careervehicles do not become significantly assay, low-enriched uranium fuel (HALEU fuel), the fuel needed for advanced reactorsResearch Program radioactive during irradiation, allowing is available and while also continuing to develop methods to minimize waste and storePaul Humrickhouse, INLs Fusion Safety Program lead, was one of 76 scientists fromexperiments to be assembled or it effectively and cost-efficiently. INLs expertise meets these needs, from inception toacross the nation be selected for DOEs Early Career Research Program. Run by thedisassembled for rapid analysis at disposal, enabling sustained and expanded nuclear energy.DOE Office of Science, researchers in the program receive grants of at least $500,000TREAT. per year extending over five years. This is to provide support during researchers crucial HALEU. Formal access to the HALEU,early career years. Using the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation EnvironmentNature Communications which will remain at INL, will come(MOOSE)an open-source simulation platform developed at INLHumrickhousespublishes INLs plan to with a cooperative agreement betweenresearch is focused on how tritium transport and material structure is affected by highaccelerate nuclear fuels and the lab and Oklo.magnetic fields. By coupling to other physics models and simulation tools, the objectivematerials discoveryis safety evaluations necessary for the realization of fusion energy. and testingRecycling EBR-II fuel to fillFour INL researchersJeffery Aguiar, need of specialized uranium New testing system speeds up TREAT experimentsAndrea Jokisaari, Matthew Kerr and The U.S. lacks domestic sources ofIn 2020, Idaho National Laboratory unveiled new modular experiment holders toR. Allen Roachhad their article HALEU, a critical component of nextimprove transient testing on nuclear fuels and materials in the Transient ReactorBringing nuclear materials discovery generation advanced reactor fuels. PlansTest Facility (TREAT). Researchers created the Minimal Activation Retrievableand qualification into the 21st century call for the output from DOE sources toCapsule Holder (MARCH) test vehicle system to provide rapid analysis and quickerpublished in Nature Communications bridge the HALEU gap until commercialturnarounds on smaller test samples. The traditional method for transients requiresin May 2020. The paper addresses how supplies become available, but this DOElarge-scale, fully integrated experiments that sometimes take years to design. Thistime horizons for nuclear materials output material requires purification. makes it difficult for smaller federal agencies, industry partners and universities todevelopment and qualification must Starting from EBR-II driver fuel, INLtake advantage of the nations only transient test reactor. The new test vehicles makebe shortened to realize future nuclear researchers successfully purified down- transient testing more accessible and practical for those programs. The MARCHenergy concepts. One way this is blended metal HALEU in an oxide form.design employs reusable safety capsules made from low-activation material. Testbeing achieved is through the Nuclear Although this fuel, housed at INLs FuelMaterials Discovery and Qualification A rendering of Oklos Aurora 1.5 MW advanced fission cleanINL selects Oklo forConditioning Facility, does not meetInitiative (NMDQi), a comprehensive energy plant with integrated solar panels. opportunity to demonstratethe fuel requirements for all types ofprogram spanning national laboratories, reuse of fuel material advanced reactors, this down-blendedacademia and industry. Launched Idaho National Laboratory announcedfuel can be used to better understandin 2020 and led by INL, NMDQi in February 2020 it will provide Oklowhat fuel forms for which it can be used.will demonstrate processes and test Inc. of Sunnyvale, California, accessThis product can be used as a feedstockplatforms for accelerated nuclear to recovered spent nuclear fuel to aidfor fuel in several potential advancedmaterials fuel development within the the company in its effort to developreactors. next five years and qualification within and demonstrate the Oklo Aurora, athe next 10 years. small advanced fission reactor that canThe INL group first dissolved the metal be used to generate power in remote orfuel in acid and then used solvents to off-grid locations. The company applieddrive it to greater than 99.9% purity. In for access to the material through athe final stage of the three-step lab scale competitive process INL launched inprocess, they chemically transformed 2019. To produce fuel for advancedit into an oxide demonstrating the reactors, INL is downblending uraniumconversion to that fuel form. The new MARCH test vehicle recovered from spent fuel to producesystem being loaded into TREAT.6 7'