| abstract |
A method of providing an end-capped ceramic composite tube for confining nuclear fuel (34) within a nuclear reactor, comprising providing a tubular ceramic composite (40) and one or more end plugs ( 14, 46, 48), attaching the one or more end plugs to the end of the tubular ceramic composite (42), and attaching electrodes to the end plug and the tubular ceramic composite A method comprising the steps of attaching and forming (52) a hermetically sealed tube by passing an electric current according to a plasma sintering method (10, 50). The present invention also provides a sealed tube made by this method. [Selection] Figure 2 |