Vancouver’s IBC Advanced Alloys Corp. (TSX-V:IB) said Wednesday morning that it’s extending a research agreement with Purdue University in which the two organizations are trying to develop a safer and more efficient form of nuclear fuel for power reactors.
As well, the Vancouver firm will debut its research findings at the 2010 Top Fuels Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Meeting conference, whose sponsors include American Nuclear Society and European Nuclear Society.
In the research program, which is being extended to December, IBC and Purdue are developing a fuel from enhanced beryllium oxide, which, according to an IBC release, conducts heat better than conventional forms of nuclear fuel.
IBC said improved thermal conductivity allows the fuel to operate at lower temperatures, which results in less stored energy and can prove hazardous in accidents.
IBC added that less stored energy and lower temperatures decrease the fission gas released in a nuclear reaction, allowing for fuel to burn better.
The demand for cleaner technologies has spurred interest in rare earth elements and metals such as beryllium, which IBC sources from Kazakhstan.
In May, Business in Vancouver reported about how a small cluster of B.C. companies, including IBC, are using rare earths such as lanthanum, neodymium, beryllium and indium to build electronic, magnetic, automotive, aerospace and nuclear applications (“High-tech advances spark interest in rare earth and metal sector” – issue 1072; May 11-17).