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Densification behaviour of UO2/Mo core-shell composite pellets with a reduced coefficient of thermal expansion

UO2/Mo composite pellets with enhanced thermal conductivity have been considered for the novel construction of high-safety fuel systems. UO2/Mo core-shell composite pellets with a reasonable porosity of 4?5% were fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). In the SPS UO2/Mo composite, the majority of pores remained homogeneous in the UO2 matrix, while it had a dense morphology in the continuous Mo channel for the heat conduction. The sintering behaviour of the UO2/Mo composite indicated that the incorporating Mo impeded densification of UO2, and the primary densification temperature ranged from 903?K to 1270?K. To introduce 2?vol% Mo to UO2, the thermal conductivity (TC) was enhanced to 4.02?W/m?K at 1073?K. The above result represented a 23.31% improvement over the value of 3.26?W/m?K (Fink) for a pure UO2 pellet, which was approximated by the revised Hasselman-Johnson model. In particular, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) was reduced to 10.0???10?6/K from 298?K to 1673?K, representing an 8.83% reduction from the value of 10.98???10?6/K (Martin) for a pure UO2 pellet. The reduction effect on the CTE was superior to that of other UO2 matrix composites fuel systems and, hence, offers an external safety aspect for reactors at the elevated temperatures close to accident conditions. These results provide a feasible method for the fabrication of a UO2/Mo core-shell pellet as an accident tolerant fuel.

» Author: Liang Cheng, Biaojie Yan, Rui Gao, Xiangdong Liu, Zhenliang Yang, Bingqing Li, Yi Zhong, Pengchuang Liu, Yun Wang, Mingfu Chu, Bin Bai, Pengcheng Zhang

» Publication Date: 01/03/2020

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