Fabrication of Low-Enriched Uranium Dioxide Fuel Pellets in Support of a SLOWPOKE-2 Research Reactor Highly-enriched Uranium Core Conversion

Abstract

The International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS) at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica operates a SLOWPOKE-2 research reactor that is currently fuelled with highly-enriched uranium (HEU). As part of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. has been subcontracted to fabricate low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel for the ICENS SLOWPOKE-2. The low enriched uranium core consists of a fuel cage containing uranium dioxide fuelled elements. This paper describes the fabrication of the low-enriched uranium dioxide fuel pellets for the SLOWPOKE-2 core conversion.