Pennsylvania State University has received the first TRIGA nuclear research reactor fuel delivery in the U.S. in a decade, according to reports.
The supply of 30 uranium zirconium hydride fuel elements was produced at a recently renovated facility in France by nuclear energy company Framatome and purchased by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for $8.3 million.
“These new fuel elements will enable us to run the reactor for longer [periods of time] to support studies conducted by Penn State faculty, students, and collaborators,” said Kenan Ünlü, director of the university’s Radiation Science and Engineering Center, in a news release.
TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) reactors were developed in the late 1950s by General Atomics and are primarily used for training students, research projects, and isotope production, including molybdenum-99, the parent isotope of nuclear medicine imaging agent technetium-99m.
Penn State received the TRIGA reactor fuel on September 27.Image courtesy of Kate Myers, Pennsylvania State University
Framatome and General Atomics created a joint venture (TRIGA International) in 1995 to market TRIGA fuel elements manufactured at Framatome’s facility in the city of Romans. The facility was taken offline in 2014 to begin an $80 million renovation project, with the DOE providing nearly $16 million in support.
Penn State’s Breazeale Reactor is one of 17 TRIGA reactors in operation in the U.S. The first shipments of TRIGA fuel will also support the operation of two other university research reactors, with the DOE eventually expected to purchase more than 660 new fuel elements.
