Fabrication of UO2-Mo composite fuel with enhanced thermal conductivity from sol-gel feedstock

Abstract

Fabrication of monolithic UO2 and UO2-Mo composites from Mo metal powder feedstock and UO3 spheres derived from internal gelation was explored. The addition of 10 vol% Mo as a secondary phase to UO2 led to an increase of up to 30% in thermal conductivity compared to syntheses in which only pure UO2 was used. Using coarse and fine Mo metal powder feedstock led to different microstructures, influencing the thermal conductivity of the resulting composites.