Fabrication and Microstructure Characterization of Porous U-10Zr Metallic Fuel Pellet

The U-10Zr metallic fuel is a significant alternative material for light water reactor, sodium cooled fast reactor, etc. In order to decrease the density of metallic fuel pellet and improve the dimensional stability under irradiation, a new porous metallic fuel was proposed, which contained a certain quantity of porosity for fission gas and volumetric expansion. The U-10Zr metallic fuel pellet was fabricated by cool-pressing moulding and solid-state sintering, and the relationship between sintering process and pellet density was researched. Then, the characterization for pellet performance was implemented, including microstructure, phase composition, etc. The results show that the density of sample pellet increases with the sintering time at the sintering temperature of 1 100 ℃, and the porosity can be controlled by adjusting the sintering time.