Nuclear Fuel Pin Jacket Production

Nuclear Fuel Pin Jacket Production

Nuclear energy is a viable solution to produce clean energy. The Versatile Test Reactor is a sodium-cooled fast nuclear reactor that will help supply the world with clean energy. Currently, no system exists to produce sodium protected fuel rods for use at a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory. This project is an automated system that extrudes sodium wire into a fuel pin jacket to protect the internal systems from oxygen in the environment. Our objective is to show proof of concept to load 300 pins per week.

Attend Our Technical Presentation

2:30 p.m. Friday, April 29 – Session 6

Team Members

Julia Bean - Materials Science and Engineering
Alexander Chambers - Mechanical Engineering
Jadzia Graves - Mechanical Engineering/Materials Science and Engineering
Ryan Oliver - Mechanical Engineering
Maxwell Vavricka - Materials Science and Engineering

Client/Sponsor

Randall Fielding  - Idaho National Laboratory

Faculty Advisor

Michael Maughan - U of I Department of Mechanical Engineering