European Atomic Energy Community (euratom)

European Community (ec)

Joseph Somers

Karl Richter

Serge Fourcaudot

Didier Haas

Fran&ccedil;ois Charollais

Claude Fuchs

Philippe Caperan

A method for producing mixed oxide nuclear fuel pellets comprises the steps of preparing an U-Pu oxide blend powder having a Pu content in excess of the finally desired value, preparing uranium oxide powder, mixing adequate quantities of both powders in order to achieve the desired plutonium content and compacting and sintering the mixture for obtaining the pellets. The step of preparing the uranium oxide powder involves the following sequence of substeps: a) preparing an aqueous solution of uranyl nitrate to which between 0.5 and 2 wt % of organic thickeners are added such that the viscosity of the solution is adjusted to values between 20 and 100 centipoise, b) dispersing of the solution into droplets, c) introducing the droplets into a hydroxide bath, d) washing the resulting beads, e) drying the beads by azeotropic distillation using an immiscible organic solvent, f) thermally treating the beads in an oxidizing atmosphere and g) thermally treating in a reducing atmosphere.

Method for producing nuclear fuel pellets of the MOX type

Method and device for the agglomeration of particles in a gaseous flow

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Karlsruhe, Germany

Joseph Somers