Improvements in or relating to the manufacture of compact nuclear fuel bodies

A method is described for manufacturing compact nuclear fuel bodies from particulate nuclear fuel composed of coated particles. A problem arises when the compact bodies are required to be of elongated form as the pressures required to achieve substantially uniform densities are necessarily high and invariably result in unacceptable damage to the particles. The method involves sequentially introducing fractions of the coated particles into an elongated cavity between applications of a controlled compacting tamping means along the longitudinal axis of the cavity. (UK)