Fabrication of neptunium containing MOX fuel microspheres

Cation-heterogeneity in internally gelated U1-Ce O2-, 0.15 ≤ z ≤ 0.3 microspheres

“…pelletization, vibro-packing, or TRISO type (pebble) fuel [5]- [8]. Sol-gel processes have been demonstrated extensively on lanthanide (Ln)/actinide(Ac) doped uranium mixed oxide systems, and have been reported to result in homogeneous solid solutions of Uranium (U) with Neodymium (Nd) [9], [10], Cerium (Ce) [11], Gadolinium (Gd) [12], Thorium(Th) [13], Neptunium (Np) [14], Plutonium (Pu) [15], and others [2]. Lanthanides are often used as surrogates for actinides to perform feasibility studies and explore process parameters without the need for shielded facilities.…”