Development of a controlled reduction process for U3O8

Sammanfattning

This report investigates a controlled reduction process (CRP) of triuraniumoctoxide (U3O8) powder into a hyperstoichiometric uranium dioxide (UO2+x)powder that could be mixed with the fresh uranium dioxide (UO2) powderwithout decreasing its sinterability. Before the CRP could be performed, scrapUO2 pellets were oxidized into U3O8 powder which was then reduced. Fiveversions of the CRP process were performed with different parameters. Thecharacteristics of the resulting CRP powders were investigated through X-raydiffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and thermogravimetricanalysis (TGA). The powders were mixed with fresh UO2 powder, pressed andsintered to pellets. The density of the pellets was investigated, as was theirsurface through SEM.The results indicate that CRP powders with x below 0.25 had higher finalpellet density, suggesting that there is a benefit of reducing the U3O8 powder tothe fluorite crystal structure before mixing with the fresh UO2 powder. Furtherinvestigation and optimisation of the process is necessary, however its futureimplementation could lead to an increase in the weight fraction of recycledscrap material above the current 9 wt% maximum, among other benefits.