Porous UO₂ sintered pellets and method for fabricating porous UO₂ sintered pellets and electrolytic reduction using same

摘要

A method for fabricating porous UO₂ sintered pellets to be fed into the electrolytic reduction process for the purpose of metallic nuclear fuel recovery is provided, which includes forming a powder containing U₃O₈ by oxidizing spent nuclear fuel containing uranium dioxide (UO₂) (step 1), fabricating green pellets by compacting the powder formed in step 1 (step 2), fabricating UO_2+x sintered pellets by sintering the porous U₃O₈ green pellets fabricated in step 2 at 1200 to 1600° C., in an atmospheric gas (step 3), and forming UO₂ sintered pellets by cooling the UO_2+x sintered pellets to room temperature, and reduction the same at 1000 to 1400° C., in a reducing atmosphere (step 4).