Spark Plasma Sintering of W–UO2 cermets

About 50 vol.% 3 μm depleted uranium dioxide (UO2) powder was encapsulated within a tungsten super alloy matrix produced from sub-micron tungsten powders using the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) process. An additive of 25 atom-percent (at.%) rhenium was included within the tungsten matrix to improve the ductility and fracture toughness of the ceramic–metallic (cermet) matrix. Cermet fabrication to 97.9% of the theoretical cermet density was achieved by sintering at 1500 °C with 40 MPa of applied pressure for 20 min. The results presented are from the first known trials of W–UO2 and nuclear cermet production via SPS.