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Behind the Breakthrough: Setting an even higher bar for nuclear power

Behind the Breakthrough: Setting an even higher bar for nuclear power

As the US looks to increase the reliability and economics of clean energy sources, nuclear energy is a key focal point of these efforts. Offering low-carbon energy, higher efficiency than fossil fuels, and high reliability, the US Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has led and been supporting new projects with private industry partners, including GE, to enhance the nuclear plant safety and efficiency standards. 

GE’s involvement to improve the resiliency and efficiency of nuclear power has been a multi-year endeavor that is leading to promising solutions in fuel rod technologies. In late 2012, GE Research secured a contract with the DOE to develop a new material for the fuel rod (cladding) that offers oxidation resistance and can retrofit existing reactor designs. Additional partners included Global Nuclear Fuel and three National Labs (Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Idaho).

“Cladding has traditionally been made of zirconium alloy, but if the alloy overheats it can react with water and produce potentially explosive hydrogen. Our initial efforts explored cladding made of iron, chromium, and aluminum, an alloy we call IronClad,” said Raul Rebak, a corrosion engineer who leads the project for GE Research.

raul

Raul has 30+ years’ experience in academic and industrial corrosion science and corrosion engineering, including an extensive background in nuclear materials. With Raul at the helm the project thrived. By 2017, GE Research’s progress and potential impact were being felt. Global Nuclear Fuels (GNF) – GE-led joint venture, jumped on board to provide their time, expertise, and access to global customers. Shortly after in February 2018, GE became the first of the DOE-funded entities to insert its concepts (IronClad & ARMOR) into a commercially operating nuclear reactor for field testing (Southern Nuclear ’s Plant Hatch Power Station, Georgia)

In 2018, the DOE announced an additional $33.7 million in funding to the GE Research-led group to continue development and demonstration of IronClad as well as expand the scope of work, such as to include the GE coating called ARMOR.

“We’ve pulled in additional technical expertise from our Aviation and Power businesses to explore the use of silicon carbide composites (CMCs) in channel boxes that surround the fuel rods,” said Raul. “The challenge here is materials science; CMCs thrive in high temperature environments, but some elements are not nuclear-grade. We are breaking down our CMCs and rebuilding them to make them resistant of water.”

GE Additive and GE Research’s additive experts are also working to 3D print metal end caps that affix to the top and bottom of the fuel rods. Current fabrication methods are time consuming and produce a lot of waste. 3D printing these caps will enable a more rapid response if replacements are needed.

Moving forward, IronClad and ARMOR field testing will continue at Exelon’s Clinton Power Station (Illinois) in the fall of 2019 and there are plans to eventually integrate our nuclear-grade CMCs into future testing.

“This is a perfect example of what GE Research stands for. We can leverage expertise from many different disciplines, partner with GE’s businesses, their customers, and government entities to deliver valuable, world-changing innovations that solve real problems and create new opportunities,” said Raul.

“This is a perfect example of what GE Research stands for. We can leverage expertise from many different disciplines, partner with GE’s businesses, their customers, and government entities to deliver valuable, world-changing innovations that solve real problems and create new opportunities." - Raul Rebak, corrosion engineer at GE Research
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