PENGARUH PEMANASAN KERNEL UO2 DALAM MEDIUM GAS ARGON TERHADAP SIFAT FISIS KERNEL UO2 SINTER

THE HEATING OF UO2 KERNELS IN ARGON GAS MEDIUM ON THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SINTERED UO2 KERNELS. The heating of UO2 kernels in argon gas medium on the physical properties of sinter UO2 kernels was conducted. The heated of the UO2 kernels was conducted in a sinter reactor of a bed type. The sample used was the UO2 kernels resulted from the reduction results at 800 oC temperature for 3 hours that had the density of 8.13 g/cm3 ; porocity of 0.26; O/U ratio of 2.05; diameter of 1146 μm and sphericity of 1.05. The sample was put into a sinter reactor, then it was vacumed by flowing the argon gas at 180 mmHg pressure to drain the air from the reactor. After that, the cooling water and argon gas were continuously flowed with the pressure of 5 mPa with 1.5 liter/minutes velocity. The reactor temperature was increased and variated at 1200-1500 oC temperature and for 1-4 hours. The sinters UO2 kernels resulted from the study were analyzed in term of their physical properties including the density, porosity, diameter, sphericity, and specific surface area. The density was analyzed using pycnometer with CCl4 solution. The porosity was determined using Haynes equation. The diameters and sphericity were showed using the Dino-lite microscope. The specific surface area was determined using surface area meter Nova-1000. The obtained products showed tha the heating of UO2 kernel in argon gas medium were influenced on the physical properties of sinters UO2 kernel. The condition of best relatively at 1400 oC temperature and 2 hours time. The product resulted from the study was relatively at its best when heating was conducted at 1400 oC temperature and 2 hours time, produced sinters UO2 kernel with density of 10.14 gr/ml; porosity of 7 %; diameters of 893 μm; sphericity of 1.07 and specific surface area of 4.68 m2/g with solidifyshrinkage of 22 %.