作者: U Basak , S Majumdar , HS Kamath
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摘要: The performances of conventional and advanced (UPu) O2,(ThPu) O2 and (ThU) O2 fuels in PHWRs/LWRs could be significantly improved and burn-up could be extended by proper control of the microstructure of these fuels. Stable density pellets which are resistant to in-reactor densification, large grain sized pellets, which release less fission gas and pellets with high plasticity & creep rate are some of the examples of advanced fuels developed at BARC. Apart from 2-3 fold increase in the burn-up range, the R&D programme in oxide fuels also aims at:(i) modifications in microstructural characteristics leading to improved thermal conductivity and better performances of the conventional and advanced UO2/MOX fuels and (ii) developing advanced fuel fabrication methods such as sol-gel microsphere pelletisation process combined with low temperature oxidative sintering (SGMP-LTS) for UO2 & MOX fuels and impregnation techniques for ThO2-UO2 fuels. These fuel fabrication methods are not only amenable to automation and remotisation, but also minimize fuel fabrication costs, radiotoxic aerosols and process losses.