University of California

The United States of America As Represented by the United States

The United States of America As Represented by the Department of Energy

David W Carroll

Mitchell Trkula

David J Devlin

Gordon D Jarvinen

Robert S Barbero

Steven M Valone

David James Devlin

Joseph R Laia, Jr

Kenneth V Salazar

Wallace E Anderson

Cynthia W Sandoval

John G Cowie

William J McCreary

Microstructured nuclear fuel adapted for nuclear power system use includes fissile material structures of micrometer-scale dimension dispersed in a matrix material. In one method of production, fissile material particles are processed in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) fluidized-bed reactor including a gas inlet for providing controlled gas flow into a particle coating chamber, a lower bed hot zone region to contain powder, and an upper bed region to enable powder expansion. At least one pneumatic or electric vibrator is operationally coupled to the particle coating chamber for causing vibration of the particle coater to promote uniform powder coating within the particle coater during fuel processing. An exhaust associated with the particle coating chamber and can provide a port for placement and removal of particles and powder. During use of the fuel in a nuclear power reactor, fission products escape from the fissile material structures and come to rest in the matrix material. After a period of use in a nuclear power reactor and subsequent cooling, separation of the fissile material from the matrix containing the embedded fission products will provide an efficient partitioning of the bulk of the fissile material from the fission products. The fissile material can be reused by incorporating it into new microstructured fuel. The fission products and matrix material can be incorporated into a waste form for disposal or processed to separate valuable components from the fission products mixture.

Methods and apparatuses for the development of microstructured nuclear fuels

There has been invented a codeposition process for fabricating hydrogen scavengers. First, a &pgr;-bonded allylic organometallic complex is prepared by reacting an allylic transition metal halide with an organic ligand complexed with an alkali metal; and then, in a second step, a vapor of the &pgr;-bonded allylic organometallic complex is combined with the vapor of an acetylenic compound, irradiated with UV light, and codeposited on a substrate.

Hydrogen scavengers

A composite article is disclosed including a porous structural member formed of carbon fiber, the porous structural member containing a multiplicity of pores of dimensions greater than about 200 microns in diameter, the porous structural member further including carbon fill material within a portion of the pores such that the pores are essentially less than about 200 microns in diameter, the porous structural member including carbon fill material defining a composite carbon/carbon intermediate article including an outer surface and a thin coating of diamond-like carbon upon the outer surface of the composite carbon/carbon intermediate article. The composite article may serve as a prosthetic device for replacement joints, bone structures and the like.

Carbon based prosthetic devices

A process for coating a substrate with diamond or diamond-like material including maintaining a substrate within a bed of particles capable of being fluidized, the particles having substantially uniform dimensions and the substrate characterized as having different dimensions than the bed particles, fluidizing the bed of particles, and depositing a coating of diamond or diamond-like material upon the substrate by chemical vapor deposition of a carbon-containing precursor gas mixture, the precursor gas mixture introduced into the fluidized bed under conditions resulting in excitation mechanisms sufficient to form the diamond coating.

Fluidized bed deposition of diamond

Coating of woven materials so that not only the outer surfaces are coated has been a problem. Now, a solution to that problem is the following: Woven materials are coated with materials, for example with metals or with pyrolytic carbon, which materials are deposited in Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) reactions using a fluidized bed so that the porosity of the woven material is retained and so that the tiny filaments which make up the strands which are woven (including inner as well as outer filaments) are substantially uniformly coated.

Coated woven materials and method of preparation

Growing community of inventors

Los Alamos, NM, United States of America

David W Carroll