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.

核电占英国能源产量的20%，是社会和经济发展的重要能源。此外，它还是最大的非温室气体排放资源能源供应商，使其成为英国温室气体减排目标的关键。为了提高效率和降低运营成本，目前核电站使用的二氧化铀（UO2）燃料的新制造路线以及新的耐事故材料（例如U3Si2）正在探索中。场辅助烧结（FAS）——在加热的同时向材料施加电场以提高致密化率，可能比传统技术快几个数量级。然而，关于烧结和流动机制以及这些机制对所得燃料芯块的影响，仍有很多未知之处。较短的烧结时间会导致晶粒生长受到抑制，从而影响热性能和机械性能以及电场的影响，例如晶格缺陷和晶体应变。该项目将研究 FAS 的基本机制并了解它对材料性能的影响。一旦明确定义，该技术将被升级以展示其在工业领域的潜在应用。该学生将在国家燃料卓越中心（NFCE）工作，该中心在一套气氛控制的手套箱内配备了用于生产铀燃料材料的设备。该中心提供广泛的材料加工、测试和表征设施，包括烧结炉、电子显微镜、X 射线衍射和断层扫描以及热物理表征。