Low-temperature sintering of (U,Pu)O2 MOX in mild oxidative conditions
We compare typical reductive sintering conditions for U, Pu mixed oxides (4 h at 1700 °C in Ar/6 % H 2 + 1200 ppm H 2 O) with lower temperature and mildly oxidative conditions (2 h at 1200 °C in CO/CO 2 = 1/9) and report on the resulting microstructures and homogeneity. We show that lower temperature and mildly oxidative conditions, without cover gas change, can give close-to stoichiometric, crack-free MOX pellets with a relative density of ∼ 95 %, and we propose ways to improve the homogenisations of PuO 2 and UO 2 and increase the grain size.
Authors
- Jacobus Boshoven
- Abibatou Ndiaye
- Karin Popa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2759-6492)
- Philipp Pöml
- R.J.M. Konings (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6113-2128)
- Marco Cologna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8859-3389)
- Jean‐François Vigier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3640-1098)
- Bertrand Morel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1456-8371)
Institutions
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Tours (FR)
- Joint Research Centre (DE)
- Orano (France) (FR)
- Delft University of Technology (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Nuclear Materials
- Published
- 2025-04-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2025.155800
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Nuclear Materials and Properties
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.52