Abstract Scope |
The adoption of silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic components within nuclear reactor designs has historically been limited due to challenges in manufacturing components with complex geometries. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has recently demonstrated an additive manufacturing (AM) process to overcome these challenges using binder jet 3D printing of SiC components that are densified using chemical vapor infiltration. Leveraging this process, the Transformational Challenge Reactor (TCR) fuel form was conceptualized to include a dense packing of conventionally fabricated uranium nitride tristructural isotropic fuel particles within an AM SiC matrix. This same process is used to embed sensors at critical locations within 3D printed SiC fuel forms or structural components. This presentation will provide an overview of the SiC AM and sensor embedding processes, the challenges and opportunities for designing, fabricating, and instrumenting TCR-like fuels, and the results from initial irradiation testing of integral fuel compacts. |