Spark Plasma Sintering of Uranium Nitride Fuels

Abstract

The commercial application of uranium nitride fuels is currently considered by Rosatom, Westinghouse and other actors in the nuclear community. Historically, issues related to manufacturability, swelling, compatibility with water and cost of nitrogen-15 have constituted showstoppers for this development to come to fruition. Recently, spark plasma sintering has proven to be a viable route for manufacturing of high density uranium nitride pellets with adequate microstructure. Moreover, the ability of the SPS process to deliver industrial scale throughput now appears to be within reach. In this paper, we review the progress made in spark plasma sintering of uranium nitride fuel at KTH and discuss the commercial application of this process to manufacturing of fuels for the Canadian market.