Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21C—NUCLEAR REACTORS
  • G21C3/00—Reactor fuel elements and their assemblies; Selection of substances for use as reactor fuel elements
  • G21C3/42—Selection of substances for use as reactor fuel
  • G21C3/58—Solid reactor fuel Pellets made of fissile material
  • G21C3/62—Ceramic fuel
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F9/00—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C01B—NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C
  • C01B21/00—Nitrogen; Compounds thereof
  • C01B21/06—Binary compounds of nitrogen with metals, with silicon, or with boron, or with carbon, i.e. nitrides; Compounds of nitrogen with more than one metal, silicon or boron
  • C01B21/0602—Binary compounds of nitrogen with metals, with silicon, or with boron, or with carbon, i.e. nitrides; Compounds of nitrogen with more than one metal, silicon or boron with two or more other elements chosen from metals, silicon or boron
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C01B—NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C
  • C01B32/00—Carbon; Compounds thereof
  • C01B32/90—Carbides
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
  • C22C—ALLOYS
  • C22C1/00—Making non-ferrous alloys
  • C22C1/04—Making non-ferrous alloys by powder metallurgy
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
  • C22C—ALLOYS
  • C22C32/00—Non-ferrous alloys containing at least 5% by weight but less than 50% by weight of oxides, carbides, borides, nitrides, silicides or other metal compounds, e.g. oxynitrides, sulfides, whether added as such or formed in situ
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
  • C22C—ALLOYS
  • C22C32/00—Non-ferrous alloys containing at least 5% by weight but less than 50% by weight of oxides, carbides, borides, nitrides, silicides or other metal compounds, e.g. oxynitrides, sulfides, whether added as such or formed in situ
  • C22C32/0047—Non-ferrous alloys containing at least 5% by weight but less than 50% by weight of oxides, carbides, borides, nitrides, silicides or other metal compounds, e.g. oxynitrides, sulfides, whether added as such or formed in situ with carbides, nitrides, borides or silicides as the main non-metallic constituents
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
  • C22C—ALLOYS
  • C22C43/00—Alloys containing radioactive materials
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21C—NUCLEAR REACTORS
  • G21C3/00—Reactor fuel elements and their assemblies; Selection of substances for use as reactor fuel elements
  • G21C3/42—Selection of substances for use as reactor fuel
  • G21C3/58—Solid reactor fuel Pellets made of fissile material
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21C—NUCLEAR REACTORS
  • G21C3/00—Reactor fuel elements and their assemblies; Selection of substances for use as reactor fuel elements
  • G21C3/42—Selection of substances for use as reactor fuel
  • G21C3/58—Solid reactor fuel Pellets made of fissile material
  • G21C3/60—Metallic fuel; Intermetallic dispersions
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
  • C01P2004/00—Particle morphology
  • C01P2004/60—Particles characterised by their size
  • C01P2004/61—Micrometer sized, i.e. from 1-100 micrometer
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
  • C01P2004/00—Particle morphology
  • C01P2004/80—Particles consisting of a mixture of two or more inorganic phases
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
  • C01P2006/00—Physical properties of inorganic compounds
  • C01P2006/10—Solid density
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
  • C01P2006/00—Physical properties of inorganic compounds
  • C01P2006/80—Compositional purity
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E30/00—Energy generation of nuclear origin
  • Y02E30/30—Nuclear fission reactors

Definitions

• uranium-plutonium alloys having plutonium contents from 15 to 80% are very fragile, because of the presence of a zeta phase. They normally have fissures at ordinary temperature and are extremely friable. When stock-piled, they break down very rapidly.
• the present invention consists in a process of fabrication of sintered compounds based on uranium and plutonium, the plutonium content of which is from 15 to 80%, in which, after provision of a uranium-plutonium alloy of the desired plutonium content by any known procedure, the alloy is ground in order to obtain a pulverulent product which is then compressed and sintered with the addition of another element or substance.
• Metals which can be added to the pulverulent alloy include: molybdenum, niobium, tantalum and zirconium.
• Nonmetallic elements and substances which can be combined with the alloy include carbon, silicon, nitrogen and hydrogen sulphide.
• the process according to the invention can be put into eiiect very readily.
• -It is sufiicient in fact to grind the alloy directly, under an inert atmosphere, in a ball mill, for example.
• the powders obtained by pulverization of the alloy have an ability to become sintered which is much better than that of mixtures of uranium and plutonium powders obtained by standard processes, for example by calciothermy or by decomposition of the hydrides. They also have the advantage in the case where it is desired to make a mixed compound with a nonmetallic element of conducing directly to the formation of solid solutions of uranium and plutonium compounds.
• Production of the mixed compound can be effected either in a single stage, that is to say the grinding and reaction "ice of the alloy with the nonmetallic composition are simultaneous, or in two stages, in which preliminary grinding of the alloy in an inert atmosphere is then followed by reaction of the alloy with the nonmetallic compound.
• Example 1 This example relates to the preparation of a nuclear fuel based upon uranium and plutonium carbides.
• a uranium-plutonium alloy, the plutonium content of which is 30%, is prepared in an arc furnace;
• the carbide obtained is ground in a ball mill for 20 minutes in the presence of 1% of naphthalene and 0.5% of nickel by weight; the average grain diameter is then less than 40;;
• Example 2 This example deals with the preparation of plutonium and uranium mononitride.
• a uranium-plutonium alloy having a plutonium content of 30% is prepared in an arc furnace;
• a process for the production of a sintered uraniumplutonium product comprising the steps of grinding to a powder, fragile particles of a uranium-plutonium alloy, the plutonium content of which is from 15 to and compounding said uranium-plutonium powder by compressing and sintering the ground powder in the presence of compounding metallic and nonmetallic materials selected from the group consisting of molybdenum, niobium, tantalum, zirconium, carbon, silicon, nitrogen and hydrogen sulphide.
• a sintered uranium and plut-onium product prepared according to the process of claim 1.
• a process for the production of an uranium-plutonium carbide nuclear fuel comprising the steps of grinding under an inert atmosphere fragile particles of a zeta phase containing uranium-plutonium alloy, the plutonium content of which is 30%, in the presence of the stoichiometric quantity of carbon to provide a 40,14 grained powder, compressing this powder at a pressure of about 7.25 1()- p.s.i. into a compact, heating said compact under vacuum at 1200 C. to efiect carburization, grinding the carburized product, compressing the carburized powder and sintering at 1450 C.
• a process for the production of an uranium-plutonium nitride comprising the steps of grinding a fragile zeta phase containing alloy of uranium and 30% plutonium in an inert atmosphere, introducing a stoichiometric quantity of nitrogen and heating to 350 C. to form nitrides and then sintering the nitn'ded powder.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• High Energy & Nuclear Physics (AREA)
• Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
• Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
• Carbon And Carbon Compounds (AREA)
• Powder Metallurgy (AREA)
• Inorganic Compounds Of Heavy Metals (AREA)

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Cited By (9)

Citations (6)

• 0
  • NL NL294166D patent/NL294166A/xx unknown
  • BE BE633880D patent/BE633880A/xx unknown
• 1962
  • 1962-06-20 FR FR901290A patent/FR1338877A/fr not_active Expired
• 1963
  • 1963-06-10 LU LU43877D patent/LU43877A1/xx unknown
  • 1963-06-11 CH CH725263A patent/CH416856A/fr unknown
  • 1963-06-11 US US286958A patent/US3275564A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1963-06-11 GB GB23261/63A patent/GB1034505A/en not_active Expired
  • 1963-06-18 DE DEC30223A patent/DE1230228B/de active Pending

Patent Citations (6)

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