The U.S. Government Made a Powerful New Kind of Nuclear Fuel
A new, U.S.-made nuclear fuel could improve outcomes in existing nuclear plants.
Thorium is a popular talking point as a way to "clean up" nuclear energy.
One advocate says having a U.S. nuclear product also improves our diplomatic position.
Could a new blended thorium fuel improve U.S. nuclear power’s outlook? Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory have a new fuel called Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life, or ANEEL. It's a proprietary mix of thorium and low-enriched uranium, and Forbes’s James Conca says it could help close the gap in a near future where nuclear seems like the only option.
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The mix itself is a secret, but thorium—pictured above in pellet form—has continued to gain momentum as an alternative nuclear fuel.
“[T]horium has a higher melting point and lower operating temperature which makes it inherently safer than straight U and more resistant to core meltdowns,” Conca explains:
“The ANEEL fuel has a very high fuel burn-up rate[, which] means the fuel stays in the reactor longer and gets more energy out of the same amount of fuel. [It’s] prohibitively difficult to make into a weapon. [And] ANEEL fuel will reduce the waste by over 80% and end up with much less plutonium. Less spent fuel means less refueling, less cost, less fuel handling and less volume to dispose.”
Thorium has a number of advantages over uranium, and especially over highly enriched uranium. Yes, thorium must be paired with at least a small amount of a fissile material, because it isn’t naturally fissile on its own. But it’s much more plentiful than uranium and found in high quantities in the kinds of developing markets where Conca says nuclear will be clutch in coming decades—starting with India.
“India itself has more Th than U, particularly as monazite sands, a reason they have been pursuing Th in nuclear reactors for decades,” Conca writes. This, he suggests, lends itself to a more mutually beneficial arrangement where Indian thorium can be turned into U.S.-made ANEEL fuel and then exported to India.
In turn, this can lead to improved diplomacy. “Whenever the United States is involved in another country’s nuclear program, that country signs various agreements related to security, weapons nonproliferation and nuclear materials, including nuclear fuel,” Conca explains.
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Idaho National Laboratory’s partner in ANEEL include Texas A&M University and startup Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE). The company started fitting existing reactor designs to use ANEEL fuel, which it says can enter commercial use as early as 2024. Conca argues that having a ready-to-use solution will help clean up nuclear efforts in places where he believes nuclear is the only feasible option. Reactors also don’t need to power down to refuel with ANEEL. He writes:
“[I]n developing nations, the need is urgent. Most do not have the infrastructure to install natural gas, wind or solar. Additionally, many do not have sufficient topography and river flow for hydro. So it’s either coal or nuclear. If you care at all about the environment, then it better be nuclear.”
One of the record holders for longest operating time for a nuclear plant, Conca says, is an Indian reactor that is already compatible with ANEEL. In a near future where humankind faces difficult energy decisions, he argues, this fuel is a good idea.
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