Hydriding uranium-surrogate alumindes to demonstrate hydrogen's ability to separate aluminum-uraniym fuel assemblies

Research reactors are a specialized type of nuclear facility that uses high neutron flux bombardments to perform experiments and produce radioisotopes vital to industrial and medical applications. The highest power research reactors use highly enriched uranium (HEU) but are scheduled for conversion to instead use low enriched uranium (LEU) by 2030 for global security reasons. Any leftover HEU fuel will need to be disposed of to prevent its theft, preferably by down blending it into LEU fuel for reuse. This thesis explores the application of hydrogen gas as a means of separating uranium aluminide dispersion fuel, the most prolific HEU fuel in use, as a cheaper, safer, and more selective method than existing aqueous, chemical pathway.