Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

PREPARATION AND FABRICATION OF ThO$sub 2$ FUELS

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4838835· OSTI ID:4838835

Dense partricles of ThO/sub 2/-UO/sub 2/ were prepared by a sol-gel process and vibratorily compacted into metal tubes to a density approaching 9.0 g/ cc. The steps in this method are all simple and can be carried out behind shielding, which is necessary for refabricating U/sup 233/ fuels. The sol-gel process consists of preparing a hydrous thoria sol, adding the U/sup 233/ as nitrate solution, evaporating to a gel, and finally calcining to almost theoretically dense oxide particles at orly 1150 deg C. The sol-gel-prepared oxide, after being sized, was compacted with a simple, inexpensive pneumatic vibrator. (auth)

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-26
NSA Number:
NSA-16-020960
OSTI ID:
4838835
Report Number(s):
ORNL-3225
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English