The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 28, 2026
Filed:
Feb. 12, 2021
Applicant:
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (US);
Inventors:
Theodore M. Besmann, Oak Ridge, TN (US);
Emily E. Moore, Livermore, CA (US);
Assignee:
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G21C 3/62 (2006.01); C04B 35/515 (2006.01); C01B 33/06 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G21C 3/623 (2013.01); C04B 35/5158 (2013.01); G21C 3/62 (2013.01); C01B 33/06 (2013.01); C01P 2004/61 (2013.01); C04B 2235/3224 (2013.01); C04B 2235/3891 (2013.01); C04B 2235/5436 (2013.01);
Abstract
Described herein are Uranium silicide materials as advanced nuclear fuel replacements for uranium dioxide fuel in light water reactors (LWRs) that have advantages over currently used uranium dioxide (UO) via a substantially higher thermal conductivity and, thus, are capable of operating in a reactor at significantly lower temperatures for the same level of power production, plus the heat capacity of a silicide is lower than that of an oxide so that less heat is stored in the fuel that would need to be removed under accident conditions.