Preventing Nuclear Fuel Material Adhesion on Glove Box Components Using Nanoparticle Coating

Powdered uranium silicide (U3Si2) 20% U235 enriched is an intermetallic compound used as nuclear fuel material dispersed in aluminum to be the meat of fuel elements. U3Si2 powder is the state-of-the-art as nuclear fuel material mostly used in modern research reactors. Its recent established fabrication in IPEN replaced the previous ceramic powder U3O8 used in the fuel of IEAR1 (IPEN/CNEN, São Paulo, Brazil). The U3Si2 is a compound with 92.3%wtU and 7.7%wtSi. Its production is made by induction furnace melting using metallic uranium, produced by magnesiothermic reaction, and pure silicon. The induction furnace melts under argon controlled environment using zirconia crucible. Homogenization of liquid bath at 1800°C is a compromise between crucible resistance and homogenized melting, avoiding hazardous happenings. IPEN produced its first lot of enriched U3Si2 in September 2004, with a continuous fabrication ever since. This research work represents the ability of having fully Brazilian supply of this strategic and high cost nuclear material. The fuel quality meets the world quality standards required by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and RERTR standards. Brazilian production of U3Si2 powder not only closed the fuel cycle, from uranium mineral to fuel element, but also allowed higher productivity of nuclear medicine radioisotopes by IEA-R1.

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Demonstration of near Field High Energy X-Ray Diffraction Microscopy on High-Z Ceramic Nuclear Fuel Material

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.777.112 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 777 ◽

pp. 112-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Donald W. Brown ◽

Levente Balogh ◽

Darrin Byler ◽

Chris M. Hefferan ◽

James F. Hunter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nuclear Fuel ◽

Near Field ◽

Grain Morphology ◽

High Energy ◽

X Ray Diffraction ◽

Boundary Misorientation ◽

Sintered Ceramic ◽

X Ray ◽

Diffraction Microscopy ◽

Fuel Material

Near-field high energy x-ray diffraction microscopy (nf-HEDM) and high energy x-ray micro-tomography (μT) have been utilized to characterize the pore structure and grain morphology in sintered ceramic UO2nuclear fuel material. μT successfully images pores to 2-3μm diameters and is analyzed to produce a pore size distribution. It is apparent that the largest number of pores and pore volume in the sintered ceramic are below the current resolution of the technique, which might be more appropriate to image cracks in the same ceramics. Grain orientation maps of slices determined by nf-HEDM at 25 μm intervals are presented and analyzed in terms of grain boundary misorientation angle. The benefit of these two techniques is that they are non-destructive and thus could be performed before and after processes (such as time at temperature or in-reactor) or even in-situ.

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Preventing Nuclear Fuel Material Adhesion on Glove Box Components Using Nanoparticle Coating

Volume 1: Beyond Design Basis; Codes and Standards; Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); Decontamination and Decommissioning; Nuclear Fuel and Engineering; Nuclear Plant Engineering ◽

10.1115/icone2020-16215 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Tomoomi Segawa ◽

Koichi Kawaguchi ◽

Katsunori Ishii ◽

Masahiro Suzuki ◽

Joji Tachihara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nuclear Fuel ◽

Mixed Oxide ◽

Test Piece ◽

Adhesion Force ◽

Particle Diameter ◽

Exposure Dose ◽

Oxide Powder ◽

Adhesion Prevention ◽

External Exposure ◽

Nanoparticle Coating

Abstract To minimize retention of nuclear fuel materials in glove box components and curtail the external exposure dose, plutonium and uranium mixed oxide powder adhesion prevention technology involving nanoparticle coating of the acrylic panels of the glove box is developed. The nanoparticle coating reduces the van der Waals force between alumina particles and the acrylic test piece surface because of formation of nano-sized rugged surfaces. The nanoparticle coating reduces the minimum adhesion force normalized by the particle diameter between the uranium dioxide particle and the acrylic test piece surface, for the smallest particle of about 5 μm associated with desorption, this minimum adhesion force reduced to about 5%. The nanoparticle coating also lowers the adhered plutonium and uranium mixed oxide powder amounts on the acrylic test piece to about 10%. This study reveals that applying the nanoparticle coating to the acrylic panels of the glove box prevents adhesion of nuclear fuel materials. This method effectively reduces the retention of nuclear fuel materials in the glove box, lowers the external exposure dose, and improves the visibility of the acrylic panels.

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Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Nuclear Fuel Material

The Review of Laser Engineering ◽

10.2184/lsj.42.12_918 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 42 (12) ◽

pp. 918

Author(s):

Katsuaki AKAOKA ◽

Masabumi MIYABE ◽

Haruyoshi OTOBE ◽

Ikuo WAKAIDA

Keyword(s):

Nuclear Fuel ◽

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy ◽

Breakdown Spectroscopy ◽

Laser Induced Breakdown ◽

Fuel Material

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Uranium Sulfide as a Nuclear Fuel Material

Journal of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan / Atomic Energy Society of Japan ◽

10.3327/jaesj.5.677 ◽

1963 ◽

Vol 5 (8) ◽

pp. 677-683

Author(s):

Kazuhiko YOSHIOKA

Keyword(s):

Nuclear Fuel ◽

Fuel Material

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Study on Influence of Nuclear Fuel Material Management and Transfer Scenarios on Decommissioning

ASME 2010 13th International Conference on Environmental Remediation and Radioactive Waste Management, Volume 1 ◽

10.1115/icem2010-40015 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Kazuma Mizukoshi

Keyword(s):

Nuclear Fuel ◽

Electric Utilities ◽

Suitable Method ◽

Material Management ◽

Fuel Material

The Japanese electric utilities are required to prepare plans to transfer its nuclear fuel material by the end of the decommissioning period. (1) There can be several scenarios regarding the management and transfer of nuclear fuel material. It is necessary to fully understand the characteristics of individual scenarios so that the most suitable method can be selected according to the conditions specific to each plant.

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