Effect of compaction pressure on the thermal conductivity of UO2-BeO-Gd2O3 pellets

The (U,Gd)O2 fuels are used in pressurized water reactors (PWR) to control the neutron population in the reactor during the early life with the purpose of extended fuel cycles and higher target burnups. Nevertheless, the incorporation of Gd2O3 in the UO2 fuel decreases the thermal conductivity, leading to premature fuel degradation. This is the reason for the addition of beryllium oxide (BeO), which has a high thermal conductivity and is chemically compatible with UO2. Pellets were obtained from powder mixtures of the UO2, Gd2O3 and BeO, being the oxide contents of the beryllium equal to 2 and 3wt%, and the gadolinium fixed at 6wt%. The pellets were compacted at 400, 500, 600, and 700 MPa and sintering under hydrogen reducing atmosphere. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of BeO, Gd2O3 and compaction pressure on the thermal conductivity of the UO2 pellets. The thermal diffusivity and conductivity of the pellets were determined from 298 K to 773 K and the results obtained were compared to UO2 fuel pellets. The thermal diffusivity was determined by Laser Flash and Thermal Quadrupole methods and the thermal conductivity was calculated from the product of thermal diffusivity, the specific heat capacity and density. The sintered density of the pellets was determined by the xylol penetration and immersion method. The results showed an increase in the thermal conductivity of the pellets with additions of BeO and with the compaction pressure compared to the values obtained with UO2 pellets.