TRANSIENT LIQUID PHASE SINTERING OF UOX AND MOX FUEL PELLETS

Thesis topic details

General information

Organisation

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas :
• defence and security,
• nuclear energy (fission and fusion),
• technological research for industry,
• fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.

Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, and thanks to its 16000 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.

The CEA is established in ten centers spread throughout France
  

Reference

SL-DES-26-0129  

Thesis topic details

Category

Condensed Matter Physics, chemistry, nanosciences

Thesis topics

TRANSIENT LIQUID PHASE SINTERING OF UOX AND MOX FUEL PELLETS

Contract

Thèse

Job description

The subject is related to the manufacture of UOX and MOX fuels. The main objective is to identify dopant pairs that allow the formation of a transient liquid phase during the fuel sintering step. For this, phase diagram calculations using the CALPHAD method will have to be carried out, also taking into account the requirements related to the irradiation phase once the fuel is loaded into the reactor. The most promising pairs will then be evaluated in the context of the manufacture of a UOX fuel and a MOX fuel. The experiments to be carried out will essentially be: the preparation of a powdery material, the shaping by pressing of this material in the form of cylinders representative of fuel pellets and the study of the high-temperature sintering of these UOX and MOX formulation cylinders. After sintering, a very important step will be the characterization at the macroscopic and microscopic scales of these pellets. The first year of the thesis will take place at the CEA center in Cadarache. The next two will take place at the CEA site in Marcoule. The first year of the PhD will take place at the CEA Cadarache center within the ICPE Uranium Fuel Laboratory. The following two years will be spent at the INB Atalante facility on the CEA Marcoule site. The candidate will work in two facilities unique in Europe and will be able to develop experience working in a nuclear environment with a highly innovative approach that will lead to the publication of original scientific results.

University / doctoral school

Ingénierie - Matériaux - Environnement - Energétique - Procédés - Production (IMEP2)
Université Grenoble Alpes

Thesis topic location

Site

Marcoule

Requester

Position start date

01/10/2026

Person to be contacted by the applicant

BENARIB Sofian
CEA
DES/ISEC/DMRC/SPTC/LSEM
CEA Marcoule
Bâtiment 222 - RDC
30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze Cedex

Tutor / Responsible thesis director

BERNARD-GRANGER Guillaume guillaume.bernard-granger@cea.fr
CEA
DES/DMRC/SPTC/LSEM
CEA Marcoule
Bâtiment 222 - RDC
30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze Cedex

0466397466

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