ORNL Produces First 3D Printed Specimen Capsule for Nuclear Energy

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the largest R&D center sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE), has successfully tested a 3D printed specimen capsule for use in the lab’s High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). Also known as “rabbit capsules”, the metal components are used to gauge the performance and safety of test reactors in the nuclear energy field.

ORNL, a longtime innovator in additive manufacturing (AM) research, produced the stainless steel rabbit capsule using a powder bed fusion (PBF) printer. An ORNL team also designed the part, which endured the conditions within the HFIR for almost a month.

ORNL’s research into the 3D printed rabbit capsule will continue with post-irradiation tests this winter, with the team that worked on the project planning to use the results of the overall project to do expand R&D into 3D printing parts for nuclear energy, as well as other industries subject to similarly stringent regulatory requirements. The project is supported by funding from the DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office.

In a press release, Richard Howard, ORNL’s group lead for irradiation engineering, said, “This is a significant step toward demonstrating that [AM] can be used to develop and qualify specialized components that cannot be conventionally machined.”

The Manufacturing Demonstration Facility Director at ORNL, Ryan Denhoff, said, “As we demonstrate the reliability of these printed components, we’re looking at a future where [AM] might become standard practice in producing other critical reactor parts.”

I think that nuclear energy has emerged as one of the most promising opportunities for growth in the AM industry, in no small part thanks to the efforts of the DOE to accelerate R&D into using AM to develop materials that can withstand the punishing environments of nuclear reactors. In this context, ORNL has a uniquely significant role to play in facilitating that growth, given its dual status as a global leader in nuclear energy research, and an early AM adopter.

Moreover, since ORNL is in a rare position as a DOE-sponsored facility that works frequently and closely with the Department of Defense (DoD), the institution could provide relatively easy entree into the energy sector for the many AM OEMs that are already working closely with the US military. For instance, at least one of the ARCEMY machines that Australian OEM AML3D has sold to DoD is installed at ORNL. The energy sector is AML3D’s biggest strong-suit outside of defense, with the company having recently expanded into the US utilities industry via a deal with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

In my opinion, the best-case scenario for the US AM industry over the next five years would largely entail the technology transfer of AM know-how from the public-private nexus dominating defense activity to the much smaller — but no less vital — public-private sphere involved in US energy infrastructure. The fact that, historically, nuclear power is the area within the US energy sector where government and private industry have worked together most closely is yet one more reason to have high hopes for AM’s future in nuclear energy applications.

Images courtesy of ORNL