July 1, 2019 – The Department of Energy awarded a contract to Skyhaven Systems to develop a new class of ceramic pebbles for nuclear fusion blankets. Tritium is a fuel source for nuclear fusion that is extremely scarce naturally. The continued development of nuclear fusion techology is, in part, predicated upon finding effective methods for tritium’s synthetic production. Currently the main method being pursued to produce tritium is via fission of lithium atoms. This process is a part of most current fusion reactor designs and utilizes what are known as breeder blankets generally located at the outer radius of the reactor. Lithium ceramics, in pebble bed form, are leading candidates for the breeding material, however, their low thermal conductivity strongly influences the performance of the fission process. Improvements in the effective thermal conductivity of the ceramic pebble bed is therefore sought. Skyhaven is developing new ceramic pebbles for use in fusion breeder blankets that improves the thermal conductivity at the pebble itself, along with the thermal conductivity of the pebble bed blanket.