| Abstract Scope |
The Low-Enriched Fuel Fabrication Facility (LEFFF) at Los Alamos National Laboratory is being developed as a flexible, mid-scale platform to accelerate advanced reactor fuel innovation from laboratory research toward commercial deployment. This presentation describes how LEFFF’s modular pilot-scale infrastructure, safeguards-by-design framework, and integrated characterization capabilities create a testbed for accelerated materials innovation. Designed as a below Hazard Category 3, nature-of-process facility, LEFFF enables demonstration-scale HALEU fabrication at TRL 4–6 through modular process lines, batch-based operations, quality assurance, and advanced MC&A strategies using non-destructive assay and statistical performance modelling. These capabilities address advanced fuel forms for which traditional mass-based accounting is insufficient. During zero-state, commissioning, and early operations, non-intrusive acoustic, seismic, laser-vibrometry, and thermal-infrared sensing will link facility behaviour, equipment health, process dynamics, material accountancy, and product quality. Together, LEFFF provides a model for secure HALEU fabrication, reducing qualification risk and strengthening domestic supply chains. |