Airox oxide fuels

The AIROX (Atomics international Reduction Oxidation) process is being developed to reprocess spent uranium oxide-based fuel. It is a cyclic oxidation-reduction process that employs only gaseous and solid materials no liquids are used. Hence, this process is often referred to as a dry process which simultaneously declads and pulverizes the fuel. Pulverization permits release of volatile fission products and comminutes the fuel for reenrichment and recycle. It also provides gaseous access to unreacted fuel in the center of the pellet. 

Potential diversion of nuclear material from power production to weapons production by national or subnational groups has resulted in a reevaluation of the proliferation resistance of various fuel cycles. The low-contamination fuel cycle, utilizing AIROX dry processing, is proliferation resistant due to the retention of fission products with the fuel and to the low concentration of fissile material in all process steps. In the AIROX process, UO2 is oxidized with air to U3O8 to expand the fuel volume which simultaneously declads and pulverizes the fuel the fuel is subsequently reenriched, repelletized, and recycled to the reactor. 

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