Nuclear fuel particle having a pressure vessel comprising layers of pyrolytic graphite and silicon carbide

Abstract

Micro encapsulated fuel particles enhance safety in high-temperature gas cooled reactors by employing multiple barriers to fission product release. Microencapsulated fuel particles also have the potential to do the same in other reactor platforms. The present disclosure provides a method for enhancing the ability of microencapsulated fuel particles to retain radionuclides and thereby further enhance safety in nuclear reactors. Specifically, a nuclear fuel particle including a fuel kernel; a buffer graphitic carbon layer; an inner pyrolytic carbon layer; a multilayer pressure vessel; and an outer pyrolytic carbon layer is disclosed. The multilayer pressure vessel includes alternating layers of silicon carbide and pyrolytic carbon.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.