Journal
NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY
Volume 207, Issue 6, Pages 815-824Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/00295450.2020.1823187
Keywords
Ceramic-metallic; nuclear thermal propulsion; nuclear fuel; advanced manufacturing; spark plasma sintering
Categories
Funding
- Transformational Challenge Reactor under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Nuclear Energy
- DOE [DE-AC05-00OR22725]
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Ceramic-metallic nuclear fuels, such as uranium nitride microspheres encased in a molybdenum matrix, were fabricated using advanced manufacturing techniques. Detailed microstructural analysis and thermal conductivity measurements of the sintered fuel pellets were conducted to evaluate the effects of temperature and pressure processing conditions.
Ceramic-metallic nuclear fuels are a candidate fuel for nuclear thermal propulsion systems due to their high heat transport properties, which are necessary in very high-temperature environments. The conventional fabrication of uranium nitride-molybdenum fuel has been thoroughly studied in the past, but modern manufacturing techniques have presented a unique opportunity for further development within this field. This work demonstrates the use of advanced manufacturing techniques to produce nuclear fuel pellets composed of uranium nitride microspheres encased in a molybdenum matrix. Binder jetting is used to print molybdenum disks that are filled with uranium nitride microspheres and afterward sintered using spark plasma sintering. Two fuel pellets were fabricated to demonstrate the methodology and to provide a baseline analysis of the effects of temperature and pressure processing conditions. Characterization of the sintered fuel pellets includes detailed microstructural analysis and thermal conductivity measurements.
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