Fully ceramic nuclear fuel and related methods
AssigneesUT-Battelle, LLC, Logos Technologies, LLC
InventorsFrancesco Venneri, Yutai Katoh, Lance Lewis Snead
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Abstract
Various embodiments of a nuclear fuel for use in various types of nuclear reactors and/or waste disposal systems are disclosed. One exemplary embodiment of a nuclear fuel may include a fuel element having a plurality of tristructural-isotropic fuel particles embedded in a silicon carbide matrix. An exemplary method of manufacturing a nuclear fuel is also disclosed. The method may include providing a plurality of tristructural-isotropic fuel particles, mixing the plurality of tristructural-isotropic fuel particles with silicon carbide powder to form a precursor mixture, and compacting the precursor mixture at a predetermined pressure and temperature.
Claims14
A nuclear fuel comprising:
- a fuel element comprising a plurality of tristructural-isotropic fuel particles intermixed in a silicon carbide matrix, wherein the silicon carbide matrix separates at least one of the plurality of tristructural-isotropic fuel particles embedded in the silicon carbide matrix from the other tristructural-isotropic fuel particles embedded in the silicon carbide matrix, wherein the silicon carbide matrix has a density substantially equal to the theoretical density of stoichiometric silicon carbide.
A nuclear fuel comprising:
- a fuel element comprising a plurality of tristructural-isotropic fuel particles intermixed in a silicon carbide matrix, wherein the silicon carbide matrix separates at least one of the plurality of tristructural-isotropic fuel particles embedded in the silicon carbide matrix from the other tristructural-isotropic fuel particles embedded in the silicon carbide matrix, wherein the silicon carbide matrix is near-stoichiometric and has pockets of porosity of not more than 4%, and wherein the pockets include only rare earth oxides or tramp elements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.