Claims
- 1. A process for forming nuclear reactor fuel comprising the steps of:
- sintering microspheres containing uranium dioxide and free carbon in an atmosphere consisting essentially of an inert gas and carbon monoxide at such carbon monoxide concentration and at such temperature that high density microspheres consisting essentially of uranium dioxide and uranium oxycarbide are formed; and
- sintering said uranium dioxide/uranium oxycarbide microspheres in an atmosphere consisting essentially of an inert gas and carbon monoxide at such carbon monoxide concentration and at such temperature that microspheres having a density of about 10.2 to 11.0 g/cm.sup.3 and consisting essentially of about 1-30 mole percent uranium dicarbide and 70-99 mole percent uranium dioxide are formed.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein said microspheres containing uranium dioxide and free carbon are sintered at a temperature of about 1550.degree. C. in an atmosphere consisting of less than 1.2 mole percent carbon monoxide, and said microspheres containing uranium dioxide and uranium oxycarbide are sintered at a temperature of about 1550.degree. C. in an atmosphere consisting of more than 1.9 mole percent carbon monoxide.
- 3. The process of claim 2 wherein said microspheres containing uranium dioxide and free carbon are sintered in an atmosphere consisting of about 0.5 to 1 mole percent carbon monoxide, and said microspheres containing uranium dioxide and uranium oxycarbide are sintered in an atmosphere consisting of about 3 mole percent carbon monoxide.
- 4. The process of claim 3 wherein said microspheres containing uranium dioxide and free carbon and said microspheres containing uranium dioxide and uranium oxycarbide are each sintered for about 4 hours under the stated conditions.
- 5. Nuclear reactor fuel microspheres consisting essentially of about 1-30 mole percent uranium dicarbide and 70-99 mole percent uranium dioxide and having a density in the range of about 10.2-11.0 g/cm.sup.3.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention, which was made under a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, relates in general to nuclear reactor fuel and a method for manufacturing the same, and more specifically the invention provides a method for making nuclear fuel microspheres having a composition and density not heretofore attainable.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (3)
Entry |
The Application of Thermochemical Principles to the Production of Nuclear el Materials, pp. 79 to 86, published by G. R. Chilton in 1976 as special publication No. 30 of The Chemical Society, Burlington House, London, England. |
Hennecke et al., Journal of Nuclear Materials, vol. 38, 1971, pp. 285 to 291. |
The Kema U(YI) Process for the Production of UO.sub.2 Microspheres published by J. Kanij et al., Presented at the IAEA Panel on Sol-gel Processes for Fuel Fabrication, Vienna, May 21 to 24, 1973, 13 pages. |