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Sporian Developing Sensors for Generation IV Nuclear Systems

Sporian Microsystems has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to evaluate advanced materials, sensor designs and packaging for use in Generation IV nuclear reactors. Gen IV reactor concepts are being developed to use fuels fashioned from recycled reactor fuel. Reduction of proliferation risk and improvements in physical protection are being designed into Gen IV concepts to help thwart those who would target nuclear power plants for terrorist acts or use them improperly to develop materials for nuclear weapons. Gen IV concepts will feature advances in safety and reliability to improve public confidence in nuclear energy.

The Sporian materials and sensor technology are aimed to survive extremely harsh conditions including high temperatures and high pressures, plus exposure to liquid sodium, fast helium flow, gamma and neutron radiation. The development effort will leverage Sporian's expertise in technology areas including: MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems), PDCs (polymer derived ceramic materials) and electronics packaging for harsh environments. "Our sensor was originally designed for traditional coal and natural gas-based generating turbines and for propulsion turbines. Our goal is to prove that we can leverage the same technology for Gen IV reactors. This will help diversify America's energy portfolio," said Sporian principal investigator Dr. Yiping Liu. Sporian will provide a subcontract to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, WA to assist with the evaluation of this technology.

ABOUT SPORIAN: Sporian Microsystems, Inc. develops, markets, manufactures and sells a family of novel sensors, multiple sensor-suites, sensor-subsystems and sensor data-loggers. These systems communicate via wireless and wired interconnects, and they deliver several key features including small size, weight and power (SWaP) consumption and low cost. The company owns deep technical, marketing and managerial talent and a strong, differentiated intellectual property and patent base. Sporian is pursuing a product development roadmap that includes four interrelated product lines:

	Environmental sensors including such parameters as temperature, vibration, humidity, and shock,
	Biological and chemical sensors for environmental contaminant and serum pathogen detection,
	Sensors, coatings and packaging for harsh, high temperature and pressure environments,
	Systems to integrate sensors with signal processing, data logging, wired and wireless communications, and interface software.