About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Ceramics and Ceramic-Based Composites for Nuclear Applications III
|
| Presentation Title |
Mitigation of Room Temperature Oxidation of Uranium Mononitride Through the Use of Powder Injection Molding |
| Author(s) |
Deana Tsang, Adrien Terricabras, Joshua White |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Deana Tsang |
| Abstract Scope |
The powder injection molding (PIM) process utilizes high proportions of polymer binder mixed with powder to fabricate ceramic compacts. Debinding and sintering then produces parts with comparable properties to those made using conventional powder metallurgical methods. Here we show the application of PIM to nuclear fuels: first, for UO2 to demonstrate initial process optimization, then for uranium nitride (UN). For UN, the use of high binder provides the benefit of acting as a protective barrier to room temperature oxidation of finely milled powders, which are otherwise highly oxidizing and pyrophoric. Ageing studies on UN, even in controlled atmospheres, show the increase of oxygen content over time, which can be detrimental to sinterability and end properties. Results will show the optimization and characterization of the PIM process for ceramic nuclear fuels as well as comparisons of oxygen uptake under different atmospheric conditions for UN through quantitative oxygen impurity analysis. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Ceramics, Nuclear Materials, |