Processing of surrogate nuclear fuel pellets for better dimensional control with dry bag isostatic pressing

A study of improved methods of processing fuel pellets was undertaken using ceria and zirconia/yttria/alumina as surrogates. Through proper granulation, elimination of fines and vertical vibration (tapping) of the parts bag prior to dry bag isostatic pressing (DBIP), reproducibility of diameter profiles among multiple pellets of ceria was improved by almost an order of magnitude. Reproducibility of sintered pellets in these studies was sufficient to allow pellets to be introduced into the cladding with a gap between the pellet and cladding on the order of 50 μm to 100 μm but not a uniform gap with tolerance of ±12 μm as is currently required. Deviation from the mean diameter along the length of multiple pellets, and deviation from roundness, decreased after sintering. This is not generally observed with dry pressed pellets. Sintered shrinkage was uniform to ±0.05% and thus, as an alternative, pellets may be machined to tolerance before sintering, thus avoiding the waste associated with post-sinter grinding. •Three methods of granule preparation for two different powder sources were outlined and compared using tap density curves.•A dry bag isostatic press was used to fabricate pellets and longer rods. Thus longer pellets could be fabricated by this technique.•Vertical vibrations to pack granules decreased variation in dimensions from pellet to pellet by a factor of nine.•Sintering shrinkage varied by only 0.1% along the length of a rod. Thus green machining prior to sintering could result in tight tolerances.