On the preparation of spent nuclear fuel simulant by sol-gel method

The leaching rates of radionuclides from spent fuel vary greatly with the initial enrichment, irradiation history of the spent fuel, and leaching conditions. Material that simulates spent fuel after the decay of short-lived radionuclides is needed to conduct leaching experiments. The purpose of this work is to develop a sol-gel method, with its advantages of saving the quantities of radioactive isotopes and chemicals and reducing sintering temperature and aging time, to synthesize and sinter a small quantity (grams) of spent fuel simulant. The characterization of the precursor and sintered samples proved that the sol-gel synthesis and sintering method development was successful.