At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researchers are crafting what look like gray pool balls (or pebbles) that may hold the power to usher in a new era of nuclear energy in the U.S.
But inside, they’re packed with thousands of tiny uranium particles enriched beyond what today’s power plants use.
Built by X-energy at Oak Ridge in Maryland, the researchers hope to fuel a new wave of nuclear reactors, expected to be operational by 2030, as Tech Xplore reported. This includes companies like Standard Nuclear and Orano, producing fuel and enrichment facilities to help reach that goal.
The uranium-based fuel, Tri-structural Isotropic particle fuel or TRISO, inside the pebbles is the “most robust nuclear fuel on Earth,” according to the Department of Energy, as it cannot melt in a reactor. Each pebble can cycle through a high-temperature reactor multiple times, making it more efficient and safer than traditional fuel rods.
This breakthrough couldn’t come at a more critical time. Nuclear fission, the process of splitting atoms to release energy, is far cleaner than coal or gas, generating large amounts of power without the same level of climate-warming pollution.
But new advanced reactors need advanced fuels, and right now, most of the world’s supply chain for high-assay, low-enriched uranium is controlled by Russia and China. X-energy’s work represents a push for the U.S. to ramp up domestic production and reduce dependence on foreign sources.
Still, experts caution that nuclear power isn’t a clean energy silver bullet. Building new reactors is costly and often delayed. And while TRISO fuel is designed to be safer, it’s not unlimited, and all nuclear waste must still be contained and stored securely to avoid disasters to human health and the environment.
Even so, the potential is enormous as we continue to rely more and more on massive amounts of energy to power new technology. If advanced reactors paired with TRISO fuel succeed, they could provide stable, low-carbon power that supports renewables like wind and solar, reducing air pollution and making the grid more resilient against extreme weather and climate.
Therefore, these small TRISO pebbles could have a huge impact by cutting pollution, strengthening U.S. energy security, and potentially lowering costs for consumers.
“The momentum is incredible,” said Tyler Gerczak, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s principal investigator for the cooperative with X-energy’s subsidiary TRISO-X.
With $2 billion invested in a fuel production campus in Oak Ridge, X-energy hopes that by 2028, the factory could produce enough TRISO pebbles to power 11 new reactors, with plans for a large production facility by 2029. Amazon has also invested in X-energy in hopes of helping to fuel its power-hungry data centers.
If timelines hold, Americans could see this next generation of nuclear fuel powering homes and businesses before the end of the decade.
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