Quality control of (Th,Pu)O2 fuel pellet obtained by coated agglomerate pelletization

Abstract

(Th,Pu)O2 fuel pellets were synthesised by coated agglomerate pelletization route and characterized for the chemical quality control. (Th,Pu)O2 pellets were characterized for trace metals by spectrometric methods and non metals by ion chromatographic, spectrophotometric, conductometric and manometric methods. H, F, B and Cd contents were found to be less than 1 ppm while that for V and Cl were found to be less than 10 ppm. The pellets were found to contain Cr, Cu, Mo, Na, Ni and Pb in the range of 10–50 ppm whereas Zn, Al, Ca and C in the range of 50–100 ppm. More than 100 ppm Si, Fe and Mg were found to be present in the (Th,Pu)O2 pellets. The O/M content of the pellets were found to be ~2.00. A comparative study on (Infrared) I.R. and microwave (microwave) dissolution were also used to ascertain the Th and Pu content in the (Th,Pu)O2 pellets.