Alternative method of making recycle fuel: impregnation of low density pellets

The conventional method of fabricating mixed oxide fuels, e.g., (U,Pu)O2, is pellet pressing and sintering. Several alternative fabrication techniques that might be more suited to remote operations are being considered. In one of these routes nontoxic fertile material (238UO2 or ThO2) is fabricated into green or partially sintered pellets in a conventional pellet plant. The pellets are then moved to an alpha-active plant and enriched by impregnating them with a solution containing fissile material (Pu or 233U). After impregnation, the pellets are dried, sintered to full density, and loaded into elements. A similar technique has been used to produce (U,PU)O2 microspheres with the gel-addition process