Fabrication of particle dispersed inert matrix fuel based on liquid phase sintered SiC

In the present work, liquid phase sintered SiC (LPS-SiC) was proposed as an inert matrix for the particle dispersed inert matrix fuel (IMF). The fuel particles containing plutonium and minor actinides were substituted with pure yttria stabilized zirconia beads. The LPS-SiC matrix was produced from the initial mixtures prepared using submicron sized α-SiC powder and oxide additives Al₂O₃, Y₂O₃ in the amount of 10 wt.% with the molar ratio 1Y₂O₃/1Al₂O₃. Powder mixtures were sintered using two sintering methods; namely conventional high temperature sintering and novel spark plasma sintering at different temperatures depending on the method applied in order to obtain dense samples. The phase reaction products were identified using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and microstructures were investigated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) techniques. The influence of powder mixing methods, sintering temperatures, pressures applied and holding time on the density of the obtained pellets was investigated. The samples sintered by slow conventional sintering show lower relative density and more pronounced interaction between the fuel particles and matrix in comparison with those obtained with the fast spark plasma sintering method.