b'Assessment of Feedstock Synthesis Routes for High Density FuelsPrincipal Investigator: Scarlett Widgeon Paisner, LANLTeam Members/ Collaborators: Joshua T. White, Nicholas R. Wozniak, Blake P. Nolen, Joseph R. Wermer (LANL)Figure 1. XRD patterns of powders after ammonolysis of UF4 powders under ammonium gas for eight runs under various conditions.U ranium mononitride is aNitriding: CTRN) to produce UN promising candidate for nextor (2) hydriding uranium metal generation, accident tolerantfollowed again by nitridization to nuclear fuels due to its high uraniumform UN. One of the many draw-density, thermal conductivity, andbacks for these two processes is the melting point. The current synthesisadditional processing required to routes for uranium nitride (UN)make the starting materials (either include (1) a carbothermic reductionUO 2or U metal), where the starting of UO 2then a subsequent nitridiza- feedstock for these materials is tion (Carbothermic Reduction anduranium hexafluoride (UF6). Rather 26 2019|AFC ACCOMPLISHMENTS'