Viability of novel processing routes to current and advanced nuclear fuel materials

当前和先进核燃料材料新加工路线的可行性

• 批准号: 2283678
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2283678
• 关键词: Viability; novel; processing; routes; current

Nuclear power accounts for 20% of the UK energy production making it a critical energy source for the development of society and economy. In addition, it is the largest energy supplier of non-greenhouse gas emitting resource, making it key to the UKs greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. In the aim to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs, novel routes in fabrication of uranium dioxide (UO2) fuel currently used in nuclear power plants, as well as new, accident tolerant materials (such as U3Si2) are being explored. Field assisted sintering (FAS) - where an electrical field is applied to a material whilst heating to increase densification rates, may be orders of magnitude faster than conventional techniques. However, there is still much that is unknown about sintering and mobility mechanisms and the effects those have on resultant fuel pellet. The shorter sintering times can lead to restrained grain growth which affects thermal and mechanical properties as well as effects from the electric field, such a lattice defects and crystallographic strain. This project will look to examine the underlying mechanisms of FAS and understand the effects it has on materials properties. Once well-defined the technique will be upscaled to show potential application for industry. The student will be based in the National Fuel Centre for Excellence (NFCE) which houses equipment for the production of uranium fuel materials within a suite of atmosphere-controlled glove-boxes. The centre provides extensive facilities for materials processing, testing and characterisation, including sintering furnaces, electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and tomography and thermophysical characterisation.

核电占英国能源生产的20％，使其成为社会和经济发展的关键能源。此外，它是非绿屋发射资源的最大能源供应商，使其成为UKS温室气体排放量减少目标的关键。为了提高效率和降低运营成本，正在探索目前在核发电厂中使用的铀二氧化铀（UO2）燃料的新型途径，以及新的事故耐受材料（例如U3SI2）。场辅助烧结（FAS） - 在加热以提高致密速率的同时，将电场应用于材料，可能比传统技术快的数量级。但是，关于烧结和迁移率机制以及对产生的燃料颗粒的影响仍然存在很多。较短的烧结时间会导致晶粒生长受到约束，从而影响热和机械特性以及电场的影响，例如晶格缺陷和晶体学菌株。该项目将旨在检查FAS的潜在机制，并了解其对材料特性的影响。一旦定义明确，该技术将被扫描以显示潜在的行业应用。该学生将位于国家燃油卓越中心（NFCE），该中心设有用于在大气控制的手套箱套件中生产铀燃料材料的设备。该中心为材料加工，测试和表征提供了广泛的设施，包括烧结炉，电子显微镜，X射线衍射以及层析成像以及热物理表征。