Hydrosol droplet casting process for production of nuclear fuel and breeder material granules
A hydrosol containing, in nitrate form, a fuel or fuel-andbreeder material which is projected horizontally in the form of droplets into a gas phase containing gaseous ammonia and allowed to fall in a drip-casting column into a precipitation bath containing ammonium hydroxide. In the gas phase, the droplets are hardened just enough to prevent their deformation upon penetrating into the precipitation bath where the hardening is completed. A falling height of 5 cm is suitable. The granules are washed free of ammonium nitrate, then dried, and then sintered. The heavy metal content in the hydrosol is between 1.5 and 3 moles per liter, and the pH value of the precipitation bath is between 8 and 9. The hydrosol contains the heavy metal in oxide form and the process can be used with a thorium oxide hydrosol or a hydrosol that, in addition to thorium oxide, contains the oxide of hexavalent uranium, in the latter case the hexavalent uranium being present in a proportion up to 25% by weight of the total heavy metal. The process is also applicable to producing kernels of mixed thorium and plutonium oxides. In the case of uraniumcontaining granules, the sintering step is carried out in a reducing atmosphere to convert the uranium to the tetravalent state.
- Assignee:
- Kernforschungsanlage Julich Gmbh (Germany, Federal Republic Of)
- Patent Number(s):
- US 4193953
- OSTI ID:
- 6463257
- Resource Relation:
- Patent Priority Date: Priority date 23 Jul 1977, Germany, Federal Republic of (F.R. Germany); Other Information: PAT-APPL-925978
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
FUEL PELLETS
FABRICATION
AMMONIA
AMMONIUM HYDROXIDES
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
GAS FLOW
NUCLEAR FUELS
PRECIPITATION HARDENING
THORIUM NITRATES
THORIUM OXIDES
URANIUM NITRATES
URANIUM OXIDES
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUID FLOW
FUELS
HARDENING
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
MATERIALS
MIXTURES
NITRATES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN HYDRIDES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PELLETS
REACTOR MATERIALS
SOLUTIONS
THORIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
050700* - Nuclear Fuels- Fuels Production & Properties