Ceramic Tubular Products, LLC (CTP), a leader in the development of high temperature ceramic matrix composites, announced that it has been awarded a $7.5 million, multi-year, cost shared Cooperative Agreement from the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy to continue the development of ceramic cladding for Accident Tolerant Fuel for use in commercial water cooled nuclear power reactors.
Jeff Halfinger, CTP’s CEO, stated “The introduction of ceramic fuel cladding to replace the traditional metal fuel cladding in commercial nuclear plants has the potential of improving the safety of nuclear power plants by many orders of magnitude, and at the same time reducing the net electricity cost of this ZERO EMISSION energy source.”
The award builds on over two decades of CTP research in developing a unique multilayer silicon carbide tube with non-brittle behavior that safely operates at temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees Centigrade. CTP has now teamed with two leading industrial firms, Framatome and Raytheon Technologies Corporation, acting through Raytheon Technologies Research Center, to continue work on this emerging nuclear fuel technology. Work will include improvements in manufacturing process and material inspection technology, and high temperature tests to demonstrate the superior performance and cost effectiveness of this advanced ceramic composite technology. If successful, CTP will pursue formal regulatory approval and introduction of this technology to existing and future nuclear plants by the end of the decade.
CTP is a privately owned company, located in Lynchburg, Virginia and dedicated to developing advanced high-temperature ceramic composites for use in solar, nuclear, industrial and aerospace applications.