METHOD OF PREPARING URANIUM-ERBIUM CERAMIC NUCLEAR FUEL Russian patent published in 2010 - IPC G21C3/62 

FIELD: nuclear physics.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to nuclear engineering, particularly to making fuel elements for power reactors which use nuclear fuel based on uranium dioxide with a burnable absorber in form of erbium oxide. Erbium is added into uranium dioxide powder using a chemical method i.e. when preparing uranium dioxide powder, a given amount of erbium nitrate solution or some other water-soluble erbium salt is added to uranyl nitrate solution before precipitation of ammonium diuranate. Further, uranium-erbium-containing powder of uranium dioxide which is suitable for making fuel pellets is prepared using known techniques. Mechanical mixing of powdered oxides of two components is avoided. There is complete homogeneity of distribution of components in each other and there is improvement of fuel pellet characteristics such as density, average grain size, uniformity of size distribution of grains.

EFFECT: improved operational properties and characteristics of nuclear fuel (density, porosity, grain size), possibility of widening range of erbium content.

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