Gas cooled nuclear fuel element

This patent describes a gas cooled nuclear fuel element. It comprises a cylindrical tube having one open end; nonporous nuclear fuel disks stacked inside the cylindrical tube so as to define an annular space between the disks and the tube; the nuclear fuel disks each having an axial channel there-through and grooves to provide a path for coolant flow on a surface of each disk that extend radially between the axial channel and the outer edge of the disks; and an upper and a lower end fitting in the cylindrical tube that support the nuclear fuel disks in the tube, the lower end fitting having a central bore in coaxial alignment with the axial channel in the fuel disks