Fabrication of oxide nuclear fuels has generally been unsuccessful due to the instability of fuel loss of americium oxide during the high temperature sintering process. A low temperature-processing route that enables near net shapes in almost theoretical density is highly desirable. In order to carry out low-temperature processing, it is necessary to design oxide blends with controlled particle sizes. A compact made of the right mix of particles can be pressed at room temperature to near theoretical density. Powders have been blended to form multimodal distributions. It should be possible to use these blends to isostatically press samples with fractional densities of greater than 85% at room temperature.

Keywords: Particle, Density, Zirconia, Nuclear fuel