Abstract
In the 1970s and 1980s, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) conducted numerous studies on the fabrication of nuclear fuel particles using the internal gelation process. These amorphous kernels were prone to flaking or breaking when gases tried to escape from the kernels during calcination and sintering. These earlier kernels would not meet today's proposed specifications for reactor fuel. In the interim, the internal gelation process has been used to create hydrous metal oxide microspheres for the treatment of nuclear waste. With the renewed interest in advanced nuclear fuel by the DOE, the lessons learned from the nuclear waste studies were recently applied to the fabrication of uranium kernels, which will become tri-isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles. These process improvements included equipment modifications, small changes to the feed formulations, and a new temperature profile for the calcination and sintering. The modifications to the laboratory-scale equipment and its operation as well as small changes to the feed composition increased the product yield from 60% to 80%-99%. The new kernels were substantially less glassy, and no evidence of flaking was found. Finally, key process parameters were identified, and their effects on the uranium microspheres and kernels are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 909-915 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Radiochimica Acta |
Volume | 92 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2004 |
Funding
Acknowledgment. This effort was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science, and Technology’s Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor Program under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC. The work was performed at the ORNL under the auspices of the Nuclear Science and Technology Division.
Funders | Funder number |
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Office of Nuclear Energy, Science, and Technology’s Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor Program | DE-AC05-00OR22725 |
U.S. Department of Energy |
Keywords
- Internal gelation
- Nuclear fuel
- Sol-gel
- Uranium