Work

Fabrication of Am-doped UO2 transmutation targets

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Nuclear energy is one of the least CO 2 emitting ways of generating large amounts of electricity. One major challenge in the utilization of nuclear energy is the management of spent nuclear fuel. The radiotoxic minor actinides, particularly Am (< 0.1 wt% of spent fuel), could be extracted and recycled via partitioning and transmutation. An innovative, dust-free method for producing (U,Am)O 2-x targets without the generation of Am-contaminated liquid waste has been successfully demonstrated. The method comprises the fabrication of porous uranium oxide microspheres (UO 3 ) through internal gelation, using starch as a pore-former and low-temperature calcination. After calcination of UO 3 microspheres were infiltrated using a single-step process with aqueous Am(NO 3 ) 3 . After infiltration, the microspheres were dried, calcined and sintered. Various samples targeting Am contents of 5, 10, 20 and 30 mol% were prepared. The microstructural investigations revealed that the density of the porous host microspheres after the calcination was approximately 65 %TD with 30 vol% accessible porosity, suitable for an efficient infiltration. The examination of cross-sectioned (U,Am)O 2-x microspheres revealed homogeneous mixing of Am and U, without formation of agglomerates with distinct doping levels.

Source: Science Talks

DOI: 10.1016/j.sctalk.2025.100481

Authors: Gamze Colak, Tommy Mai

Institutions: Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, KU Leuven, UCLouvain

Language: English

Topic: Nuclear Materials and Properties

Subfield: Materials Chemistry

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $740