Fully ceramic microencapsulated fuel fabricated with burnable poison as sintering aid
AssigneeUltra Safe Nuclear Corporation
InventorFrancesco VENNERI
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Abstract
A methodology is disclosed for compaction of a ceramic matrix of certain nuclear fuels incorporating neutron poisons, whereby those poisons aid in reactor control while aiding in fuel fabrication. Neutronic poisons are rare-earth oxides that readily form eutectics suppressing fuel fabrication temperature, of particular importance to the fully ceramic microencapsulated fuel form and fuel forms with volatile species.
Claims20
1) A method comprising:
- providing a plurality of fuel particles;
- mixing the fuel particles with ceramic powder and rare earth oxide neutronic poisons to form a precursor mixture;
- and
- compacting the precursor mixture at a predetermined pressure and temperature to form a fuel element.
14) A nuclear fuel comprising a fuel element comprising a plurality of fuel particles intermixed in a silicon carbide matrix, wherein the silicon carbide matrix separates at least one of the plurality of fuel particles embedded in the silicon carbide matrix from the other fuel particles embedded in the silicon carbide matrix, wherein the silicon carbide matrix is near-stoichiometic and has pockets of porosity of not more than 4%, and wherein the pockets include rare earth oxide neutronic poisons.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.