{"id":3901,"date":"2026-10-14T20:02:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T18:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T20:02:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T18:02:58","slug":"cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/","title":{"rendered":"CCTE&#8217;s Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE)<\/strong> has released the results of post-irradiation examination (PIE) conducted at the <strong>Idaho National Laboratory (INL)<\/strong>: its thorium-based <strong>ANEEL<\/strong> fuel maintained full structural integrity after irradiation exceeding <strong>45 GWd\/MTU<\/strong>, displaying significantly lower radial fragmentation, internal restructuring, and swelling compared to conventional uranium dioxide (UO\u2082) tested under comparable conditions.<\/p>\n<p>INL researchers compared polished cross-sections of irradiated ANEEL pellets against standard UO\u2082 pellets. The outcome is clear-cut: CCTE&#8217;s pellets show no macroscopic fragmentation, while UO\u2082 pellets \u2014 tested at a lower burnup of around 30 GWd\/MTU \u2014 exhibit evident structural degradation. Three of the four rodlets in the mid-burnup batch have completed detailed analysis at INL&#8217;s Materials and Fuels Complex, providing a precise picture of the fuel&#8217;s microstructural condition following irradiation.<\/p>\n<p>Test conditions were far from lenient. During irradiation in the <strong>Advanced Test Reactor (ATR)<\/strong>, the annular pellets were subjected to a volumetric power density of approximately <strong>1,500 W\/cm\u00b3<\/strong> \u2014 four times that typically seen in CANDU reactors \u2014 and a neutron flux of roughly 5 \u00d7 10\u00b9\u2074 n\/cm\u00b2\u00b7s. The fact that the material withstood these conditions without structural failure is a technically significant result.<\/p>\n<p>ANEEL combines thorium with high-assay low-enriched uranium (<strong>HALEU<\/strong>) and is designed for pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) and CANDU reactors. These reactor types normally operate on natural uranium and discharge fuel at very low burnup levels \u2014 between 7 and 8 GWd\/MTU. Exceeding 45 GWd\/MTU means extracting six to seven times more energy than the current standard. The operational benefits are direct: reduced volumes of spent fuel, improved reactor economics, and enhanced proliferation resistance.<\/p>\n<p>The new data fit into a broader qualification roadmap. CCTE has already signed a supply agreement with <strong>BWXT Canada<\/strong> for the fabrication of full-scale demonstration bundles at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, and has launched an independent qualification review with <strong>Kinectrics<\/strong>. The completion of the irradiation program \u2014 with the final batch already surpassing <strong>60 GWd\/MTU<\/strong>, more than eight times the typical PHWR burnup \u2014 now provides the experimental database needed to move toward demonstration in a commercial reactor.<\/p>\n<p>With PIE results confirming the fuel&#8217;s structural stability even under the most demanding irradiation conditions, CCTE now holds concrete physical evidence to present to utilities and regulators. The next milestone is an in-reactor demonstration in a commercial unit \u2014 a goal that, with the BWXT Canada agreement already in place, looks considerably closer than it did just a year ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clean Core Thorium Energy has released post-irradiation examination results from Idaho National Laboratory showing its thorium-based ANEEL fuel exceeded 45 GWd\/MTU while maintaining structural integrity, with significantly less fragmentation, cracking, and swelling than conventional uranium dioxide. The findings strengthen the technical credibility of the thorium-HALEU fuel cycle ahead of commercialization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":3898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CCTE&#039;s Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory - Energia nucleare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CCTE&#039;s ANEEL thorium fuel exceeds 45 GWd\/MTU at INL without fragmentation, outperforming conventional UO2: PIE results and next steps.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CCTE&#039;s Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory - Energia nucleare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CCTE&#039;s ANEEL thorium fuel exceeds 45 GWd\/MTU at INL without fragmentation, outperforming conventional UO2: PIE results and next steps.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energia nucleare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-14T18:02:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/publish_f8feb286a47d454282fcaa2969e14ad3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Redazione Energia Nucleare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Redazione Energia Nucleare\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Redazione Energia Nucleare\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7\"},\"headline\":\"CCTE&#8217;s Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\\\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-14T18:02:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":404,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/publish_f8feb286a47d454282fcaa2969e14ad3.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/\",\"name\":\"CCTE's Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\\\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory - Energia nucleare\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/publish_f8feb286a47d454282fcaa2969e14ad3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-14T18:02:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7\"},\"description\":\"CCTE's ANEEL thorium fuel exceeds 45 GWd\\\/MTU at INL without fragmentation, outperforming conventional UO2: PIE results and next steps.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/publish_f8feb286a47d454282fcaa2969e14ad3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/publish_f8feb286a47d454282fcaa2969e14ad3.jpg\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CCTE&#8217;s Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\\\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energia nucleare\",\"description\":\"Notizie sul nucleare\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7\",\"name\":\"Redazione Energia Nucleare\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Redazione Energia Nucleare\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/author\\\/redazione\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CCTE's Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory - Energia nucleare","description":"CCTE's ANEEL thorium fuel exceeds 45 GWd\/MTU at INL without fragmentation, outperforming conventional UO2: PIE results and next steps.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"CCTE's Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory - Energia nucleare","og_description":"CCTE's ANEEL thorium fuel exceeds 45 GWd\/MTU at INL without fragmentation, outperforming conventional UO2: PIE results and next steps.","og_url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/","og_site_name":"Energia nucleare","article_published_time":"2026-10-14T18:02:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/publish_f8feb286a47d454282fcaa2969e14ad3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Redazione Energia Nucleare","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Redazione Energia Nucleare","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/"},"author":{"name":"Redazione Energia Nucleare","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7"},"headline":"CCTE&#8217;s Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory","datePublished":"2026-10-14T18:02:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/"},"wordCount":404,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/publish_f8feb286a47d454282fcaa2969e14ad3.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/","url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/","name":"CCTE's Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory - Energia nucleare","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/publish_f8feb286a47d454282fcaa2969e14ad3.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-14T18:02:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7"},"description":"CCTE's ANEEL thorium fuel exceeds 45 GWd\/MTU at INL without fragmentation, outperforming conventional UO2: PIE results and next steps.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/publish_f8feb286a47d454282fcaa2969e14ad3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/publish_f8feb286a47d454282fcaa2969e14ad3.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/cctes-thorium-fuel-surpasses-45-gwd-mtu-intact-at-idaho-national-laboratory\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CCTE&#8217;s Thorium Fuel Surpasses 45 GWd\/MTU Intact at Idaho National Laboratory"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/","name":"Energia nucleare","description":"Notizie sul nucleare","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7","name":"Redazione Energia Nucleare","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Redazione Energia Nucleare"},"url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/author\/redazione\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}