| Abstract Scope |
The advanced ceramic fuel development program explores revolutionary ceramic fuels with the potential for game-changing improvements in reactor performance and response under beyond-design-basis conditions. These advanced fuels target key properties including high thermal conductivity, enhanced oxidation resistance, and superior high-temperature mechanical behavior to improve accident tolerance. This work reviews recent advances in field-assisted sintering, particularly spark plasma sintering (SPS), for fabricating advanced nuclear fuels with precisely engineered fuel matrices. Fuel behavior is characterized with emphasis on thermomechanical properties and accident tolerance. SPS-fabricated fuels include monolithic and doped UO₂ with controlled microstructure, grain size, and porosity across nanometer to micrometer length scales, enabling direct assessment of microstructure–property relationships for fuel performance model validation. Composite UO₂ fuels incorporating secondary phases to enhance thermal and mechanical properties, as well as high-density uranium nitride and silicide fuels with improved oxidation and corrosion resistance, are also discussed in the context of advanced fuel design. |