The Addition of Silicon Carbide to Surrogate Nuclear Fuel Kernels Made by the Internal Gelation Process

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2010.03.018· OSTI ID:983825

Hunt, Rodney Dale ^[1]; Hunn, John D ^[1]; Lindemer, Terrence ^[1]; Collins, Jack Lee ^[1]

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1. ORNL

The US Department of Energy plans to use the internal gelation process to make tristructural isotropic (TRISO)-coated transuranic (TRU) fuel particles. The focus of this work is to develop TRU fuel kernels with high crush strengths, good ellipticity, and adequately dispersed silicon carbide (SiC). The submicron SiC particles in the TRU kernels are to serve as getters for excess oxygen and to potentially sequester palladium, rhodium, and ruthenium, which could damage the coatings during irradiation. Zirconium oxide microspheres stabilized with yttrium were used as surrogates because zirconium and TRU microspheres from the internal gelation process are amorphous and encounter similar processing problems. The hardness of SiC required modifications to the experimental system that was used to make uranium carbide kernels. Suitable processing conditions and equipment changes were identified so that the SiC could be homogeneously dispersed in gel spheres for subsequent calcination into strong spherical kernels.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• Sponsoring Organization: NE USDOE - Office of Nuclear Energy
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 983825
• Journal Information: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Materials Journal Issue: 1-3 Vol. 401; ISSN 0022-3115
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
FUEL PARTICLES
GELATION
KERNELS
NUCLEAR FUELS
SILICON CARBIDES
URANIUM CARBIDES
ZIRCONIUM OXIDES