TRISO-X and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Extend Advanced Nuclear Fuel R&D Collaboration

TRISO-X announced on August 11 that it has extended its Collaborative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The newly signed agreement has a term of 30 months and will continue to advance commercial-scale development of TRISO fuel, manufacturing process optimization, and technology transfer, building on the collaboration established since 2016.

TRISO-X is a wholly-owned subsidiary of X-energy, primarily engaged in advanced nuclear fuel manufacturing. Under the agreement, TRISO-X will continue to operate its existing pilot-scale facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with a focus on transitioning TRISO fuel from laboratory R&D to commercial-scale manufacturing. The collaboration includes optimizing fuel manufacturing processes, improving fuel quality and yield, refining characterization methods and process flows, and exploring alternative fuel forms and TRISO particle fuel-based solutions to serve the small modular reactor, microreactor, and particle fuel markets.

TRISO fuel is a class of coated particle fuel, typically consisting of a fuel kernel and multiple ceramic coating layers, offering high-temperature resistance and regarded as one of the key directions for advanced reactor fuel systems. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has long been engaged in nuclear materials and fuel R&D, while TRISO-X is responsible for advancing the transition of related manufacturing technologies to commercial scale.

Since establishing its pilot-scale fuel manufacturing facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2016, TRISO-X has achieved multiple milestones, including receiving the first Part 70 license under the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations applicable to a high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel manufacturing facility, initiating major construction of the TX-1 facility, and producing the first batch of commercial advanced nuclear fuel delivered to Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for irradiation testing in the Advanced Test Reactor.

TRISO-X is also advancing the construction of a commercial fuel campus in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with plans to establish a dedicated R&D center on site. The project has received support from the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Supply Chain Investment Fund. Once completed as planned, the campus will become one of the commercial-scale nuclear fuel manufacturing bases.