In future, fuel designs may be based on advanced materials, have inhomogeneous structures, or have complex geometries. Some concepts cannot be fabricated via conventional processes applied to traditional UO2-based fuel.Additive manufacturing of ThO2 has been investigated using a commercially available stereolithography-based 3D printer and photopolymer resin.Manufacturing Steps:1. 3D CAD model drawing and slicing2. Parts printing (~3.5 h duration)3. Printed part washing with isopropyl alcohol to remove any excess resin4. UV light curing to complete the polymerization of resin5. Support structure cutting off6. Resin burnout (air, 400°C for 2h)7. Sintering (air, 1700°C for 2h)Conclusions:• Additive manufacturing successfully applied to produce ThO2 part with complex geometries using a commercially available stereolithography-based 3D printer and photopolymer resin.• Improvements need to be made to • increase sintered density of the printed parts, • decrease surface roughness, • decrease number of internal cracks, and • mitigate non-uniform distortion during sintering• Additive manufacturing eliminates the geometric constraints of conventional fuel manufacturing which may enable fuel designers to define fuel geometries optimized for improved fuel performance and safety.http://ThoriumRemix.com/ Thorium & MSR & Nuclear assets used in Thorium Remix project.
