Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method comprising:coating a fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material with a water-resistant layer, the layer being non-reactive with the fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material, wherein the coating is adhered to a surface of the fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material by atomic layer deposition, a thermal spray technique, chemical vapor deposition, electroless plating, electroplating, or a combination thereof. 2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material comprises a uranium silicide, a uranium nitride, a uranium carbide, a uranium boride, a uranium phosphide, a uranium sulfide, a uranium oxide, or a combination thereof. 3. The method recited in claim 2, wherein the fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material comprises U3Si2, U3Si5, U3Si, UN, U15N, UC, UB2, UB4, UP, US2, UO2, UCO, or a combination thereof. 4. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material is in the form of a pellet. 5. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the water resistant layer is selected from the group consisting of ZrSiO4, FeCrAl, Cr, Zr, Al—Cr, CrAl, ZrO2, CeO2, TiO2, SiO2, UO2, ZrB2, Na2O—B2O3—SiO2—Al2O3 glass, Al2O3, Cr2O3, carbon, SiC, Ni, Cr, and combinations thereof. 6. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the coating is applied by atomic layer deposition. 7. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the coating is applied by an electroless plating coating technique. 8. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the coating is applied by a thermal spray process. 9. The method recited in claim 8, wherein the thermal spray process is physical vapor deposition. 10. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the coating is applied by an electroplating coating technique, and wherein the fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material is electrically conductive. 11. The method recited in claim 8, wherein the thermal spray process is a plasma arc spray. 12. The method recited in claim 11, wherein the thickness of the coating is from 1 micron to 200 microns. 13. The method recited in claim 8, wherein the thermal spray process is a cold spray process. 14. The method recited in claim 8, wherein the thermal spray process is a hot spray process. 15. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising applying a layer of burnable absorbers over the water resistant layer. 16. The method recited in claim 15, wherein the burnable absorbers are selected from the group consisting of ZrB2, B2O3—SiO2 glass, and combinations thereof. 17. A fuel for use in a nuclear reactor comprising:a fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material coated with a water-resistant layer, wherein the coating is adhered to a surface of the fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material by atomic layer deposition, a thermal spray technique, chemical vapor deposition, electroless plating, electroplating, or a combination thereof. 18. The fuel recited in claim 17, wherein the water resistant layer is selected from the group consisting of ZrSiO4, FeCrAl, Cr, Zr, Al—Cr, CrAl, ZrO2, CeO2, TiO2, SiO2, UO2, ZrB2, Na2O—B2O3—SiO2—Al2O3 glass, Al2O3, Cr2O3, carbon, and SiC, and combinations thereof. 19. The fuel recited in claim 17, wherein the fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material comprises U3Si2, U3Si5, U3Si, UN, U15N, UC, UB2, UB4, UP, US2, UO2, UCO, or a combination thereof. 20. The fuel recited in claim 17, wherein the fissile, uranium-containing ceramic material comprises a uranium silicide, a uranium nitride, a uranium carbide, a uranium boride, a uranium phosphide, a uranium sulfide, a uranium oxide, or combinations thereof. 21. The fuel recited in claim 17, further comprising an integral fuel burnable absorber layer over the water resistant layer for controlling the core reactivity in nuclear reactor operation. 22. The fuel recited in claim 21, wherein the absorber layer is selected from the group consisting of ZrB2, B2Q3-SiO2 glass, and combinations thereof.