Study on Preparation and First-Stage Sintering Kinetics of ThO₂-UO₂ Pellets Made by Sol-Gel Microspheres Technique

• Authors: A. Sökücü , M. Bedir , M. Aybers
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The sol-gel method, which is among the methods used for the production of ThO₂-UO₂ mixed oxide fuel pellets, allows a high degree of micro-homogeneity of uranium and thorium in the solution stage. The present study seeks to develop an alternative method in order to produce mixed thorium-uranium dioxide fuel pellets, prepared by internal gelation technique of sol-gel process. The study also aims to investigate shrinkage behavior and first-stage sintering kinetics of pellets compacted in the Ar-5%H₂ atmosphere using a dilatometer. The chemical and physical properties such as density, homogeneity, O/M ratio, metallic impurities, unit cell parameters, phase contents and surface area of powders, that have different compositions of thoria-urania, were studied. The influences of sintering parameters on the characteristics of microspheres and on the properties of sintered pellets are discussed.

Keywords

EN

82.20.Pm; 81.20.Fw; 81.20.Ev; 81.70.Pg

Discipline

• 81.20.Ev: Powder processing: powder metallurgy, compaction, sintering, mechanical alloying, and granulation
• 82.20.Pm: Rate constants, reaction cross sections, and activation energies
• 81.20.Fw: Sol-gel processing, precipitation(for reactions in sol-gels, see 82.33.Ln; for sol-gels as disperse system, see 82.70.Gg)
• 81.70.Pg: Thermal analysis, differential thermal analysis (DTA), differential thermogravimetric analysis

• Journal: Acta Physica Polonica A
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 127
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 987-991

Dates

published

2015-04

Contributors

author

A. Sökücü

• Çekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center, 34303, Istanbul, Turkey

author

M. Bedir

• Department of Physics Engineering, University of Gaziantep, 27310, Gaziantep, Turkey

author

M. Aybers

• Çekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center, 34303, Istanbul, Turkey

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Identifiers

DOI

10.12693/APhysPolA.127.987