About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES) 2025
|
| Symposium
|
Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES) 2025
|
| Presentation Title |
Comparison of the Effects of Carbon Content on Kernel Characteristics Across Small- and Large-Scale Conversions |
| Author(s) |
Rebekah Petrosky, Matthew Kurley, Katherine Montoya, Will Cureton, Wesley Jones, Rodney Hunt, Andrew Nelson |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Rebekah Petrosky |
| Abstract Scope |
The development of next-generation nuclear fuels includes the study and production of a variety of fuel compositions, each with their own unique challenges during fabrication. Achieving desired density, composition, and size will often require many test batches to adjust feedstock and conversion parameters. Historically, a typical approach to kernel production has included a preliminary series of small-scale batches to help fine-tune microsphere composition and size as well as conversion temperature and gas profiles before progressing to production-scale batches in a larger furnace. Despite small- and large-scale furnaces sharing similar setups, converting materials using nominally the same conditions have produced dramatically different compositions and microstructures. In this study, UO3 gel microspheres with a variety of carbon contents are converted under comparable conditions to UC/UC2 in these two furnaces. Each batch is characterized using optical microscopy to explore differences in density and surface characteristics as well as XRD to quantify sample composition. These comparisons are used to build an improved understanding of the relationship between the parameters used for test batches and the parameters required to scale-up batch size while maintaining good density, composition, and surface characteristics. Overall, this improved understanding will help expedite the initial, exploratory portion of future fuel kernel conversion projects. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Undecided |