The Transformational Challenge Reactor,
or TCR program, aims to apply
additive manufacturing to manufacture a
nuclear reactor core, a full core, and
test the score by taking a critical and
having it operate. Given the complexity
and demanding nature of parts in a
nuclear reactor core, in general nuclear
system, additive manufacturing allows us to approach component design for a specific
function completely differently. It
allows us to significantly reduce the
timelines and costs associated with
manufacturing complex components.
Most importantly, its additive nature, it's build layer-by-layer nature,
can exploited to monitor the build process and use that information towards
certification qualification of those
parts. The reality is that for decades
now in this country we have not built
and tested an advanced reactor and the
TCR program is going to pave the way for
applying a lot of these new technologies
to enable new nuclear energy.
