**Author details**

probably disappear during final straightening and polishing or even during irradiation. No special treatment is needed and this is not an issue. In the case of stainless steel claddings, there is no great mismatch between thermal coefficients, and no problems are presented during hot

Nonaluminum monolithic fuel plates need to be straightened after hot lamination. More power machinery than with aluminum dispersed fuel plates is needed. The oxide layer of the Zry‐4 cladding after hot colamination could only be removed by mechanical means. Since sand blasting must be done in an inert atmosphere, wet sand papers were used semimanually. In the case of stainless steel claddings the polishing can be assisted with chemical means. A more industrialized polishing can be performed using a scanning abrasive water blasting that can follow small surface deformations maintaining uniform cladding thickness. Also abrasive

Nonaluminum claddings in UMo monolithic fuels can be smaller than 150 μm [9]. MZ50 miniplate had a cladding thickness of 250 μm and a total plate thickness of 1 mm. This cladding reduction thickness can compensate lower thermal conductivity, compared with aluminum alloys, in heat extraction. The reduction of cladding and fundamentally plate thickness can help in new designs introducing a more satisfactory adjustment of neutron moderation ratios. The growth kinetics of oxide layer in Zry‐4 and stainless steel claddings during irradiation is much lower than in aluminum claddings. The lids and frame process of monolithic γ‐UMo with nonaluminum cladding using the lids and frame hot colamination fabrication process

The development of the HMD process was carried out with the production of more than 5 kg of γ‐UMo powder. Basic research is still needed to study thermodynamic properties of the just discovered hydride. Equilibrium stoichiometry, hydrogen allocation in traps and interstitial positions need more elaborated studies. Scalability of the HMD UMo powder production using enriched uranium is possible up to mass batches compatible with security standards, requiring

Many coverage techniques can be applied to UMo particles with different objectives and results. There is a great versatility of methods that have not all been tested under irradiation,

The traditional picture and frame technique for the fabrication of monolithic γ‐UMo plates can be used if aluminum cladding is replaced by Zircaloy‐4 or AISI 304L. This is a flexible and practical production scale technology that can be used for fuels with densities greater than 17

show, in PIE results, a gentle interaction zone without bubble nucleation. The monolithic UMo coupon can be fabricated from powder, with the possibility of blending burnable poisons, inert

powders, gas adsorption materials, and conforming special geometrical shapes.

. Monolithic γ‐U7Mo with Zry‐4 cladding miniplates irradiated up to 50% burn up

colamination with monolithic UMo.

108 Nuclear Material Performance

powders assisted by brushes can be used.

can be scaled up to full size plates.

low man‐power and equipment investment.

but it seems that more focused research is needed.

**5. Conclusions**

gU/cm<sup>3</sup>

Enrique E. Pasqualini\*

Address all correspondence to: pascua@cnea.gov.ar

Sabato Institute (UNSAM/CNEA). Nuclear Nanotechnology Laboratory, Constituyentes Atomic Center, Argentina
