Porous nuclear fuel element for high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors
- Albuquerque, NM
- Pacoima, CA
Porous nuclear fuel elements for use in advanced high temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors (HTGR's), and to processes for fabricating them. Advanced uranium bi-carbide, uranium tri-carbide and uranium carbonitride nuclear fuels can be used. These fuels have high melting temperatures, high thermal conductivity, and high resistance to erosion by hot hydrogen gas. Tri-carbide fuels, such as (U,Zr,Nb)C, can be fabricated using chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) to simultaneously deposit each of the three separate carbides, e.g., UC, ZrC, and NbC in a single CVI step. By using CVI, the nuclear fuel may be deposited inside of a highly porous skeletal structure made of, for example, reticulated vitreous carbon foam.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- Assignee:
- Sandia Corporation (Albuquerque, NM)
- Patent Number(s):
- 7,899,146
- Application Number:
- US Patent Application 7,899,146
- OSTI ID:
- 1016551
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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