Composite Uranium Silicide-Uranium Dioxide Nuclear Fuel
AssigneeUniversity of South Carolina
InventorsTheodore M. Besmann, Emily E. Moore
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Abstract
Described herein are Uranium silicide materials as advanced nuclear fuel replacements for uranium dioxide fuel in light water reactors (LWRs) that have advantages over currently used uranium dioxide (UO2) via a substantially higher thermal conductivity and, thus, are capable of operating in a reactor at significantly lower temperatures for the same level of power production, plus the heat capacity of a silicide is lower than that of an oxide so that less heat is stored in the fuel that would need to be removed under accident conditions.
Claims14
A replacement nuclear fuel pellet comprising:
- at least one silicide;
- uranium dioxide powder;
- wherein the at least one silicide has higher thermal conductivity than uranium dioxide;
- and
- wherein the uranium dioxide powder at least partially surrounds the at least one silicide in a body of the fuel pellet.
A method for making a nuclear fuel pellet comprising:
- forming a pellet from:
- at least one silicide;
- uranium dioxide powder;
- and
- at least one ceramic binder;
- forming at least one green body from the above;
- sintering the at least one green body in a controlled oxygen furnace to form a nuclear fuel pellet;
- and
- wherein the at least one silicide comprises at least 51% of the volume of the nuclear fuel pellet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.