Influence of texture and physical mixture of UO3 and C for carboreduction of UO3 into UO2
Abstract
The carboreduction of UO3 into UO2 has been studied with an excess of carbon (C/U=3 mole ratio). The results of thermogravimetric (TG) studies, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM reveal that the carboreduction depends upon the texture and the physical mixture of the precursors UO3 and carbon. Indeed, optimal carboreduction was obtained with an improvement of UO3 and carbon grains contacts during the reduction. The preparation of the mixture (UO3 + 3C) has been optimised by a slight manual grinding.