The treatment of TRISO coated particles with CF sub(4 in a low temperature plasma)

An alternative recovery method to the mechanical crushing of off-specification tri-structural-isotropic (TRISO) coated fuel microspheres is demonstrated. It is shown that the inert SiC layer can be completely removed by etching with the active fluorine species from an inductively coupled radio-frequ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of nuclear materials 2011-06, Vol.413 (3), p.156-161
Main Authors: Van der Walt, Izak J, Nel, Johannes T, Crouse, Philippus L, Jansen, Arnold A, Kekana, Sipho J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative fuels
Chemical reactions
Coated particles
Constraining
Etching
Inert
Silicon carbide
Transport
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Summary:An alternative recovery method to the mechanical crushing of off-specification tri-structural-isotropic (TRISO) coated fuel microspheres is demonstrated. It is shown that the inert SiC layer can be completely removed by etching with the active fluorine species from an inductively coupled radio-frequency CF sub(4 glow-discharge impinging a static bed from the top, at a working pressure of 1 kPa. At this pressure mass transport does not have a rate limiting role and the chemical reaction itself is rate determining. A treatment time of roughly 4 h is required for the conditions reported here.)
ISSN:0022-3115
DOI:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2011.04.017