| abstract |
Nuclear fuel for use in power generating nuclear reactors is fabricated, using a liquid permeable compressed form, saturating the form with an inert liquid which is a solvent for a desired additive solution, immersing the saturated form within a body of the desired solution for a time sufficient to produce a predetermined diffusion of additive into the form, removing the form from the solution body, and removing the solvent from the form so as to retain a predetermined concentration of additive in the fuel form. This permits the impregnation of pellets with a desired non-uniform addition of material, generally of either a fissile or poisonous nature, to achieve desired in-reactor characteristics for the fuel. |