Research Status and Progress of U-Mo Alloy Fuel in Nuclear Power Institute of China

U-Mo alloy fuel is the research focus on new-type fuel for research and test reactor. The research status and progress of U-Mo alloy fuel in Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC) was introduced in this paper. U-Mo alloy dispersion-type fuel was started to study since 2006. In several years, much works have been done, including the smelting of U-Mo alloy, the preparation of γ-phase U-Mo alloy powder, the fabrication of (U-Mo)(Al-Si) dispersion fuel plate, the compatibility between U-Mo alloy and cladding or matrix materials such as pure Al, Al-Si alloy, pure Nb, Zr alloy and pure Mg. In addition, the methods of elements analysis and non-destructive examination for U-Mo alloy fuel plate were studied. Based on these research works, the improved U-Mo dispersion fuel plates have been fabricated. The NPIC plans to master the fabrication technology of improved (U-Mo)(Al-Si) dispersion fuel plates which satisfy the technical requirements by 2010.