Patent ID: 7485246

Claim:
A method for fabricating a sintered duplex nuclear fuel pellet, comprising the steps of: preparing a first powder composed of a material selected from the group consisting of UO 2 and UO 2 —Er 2 O 3 , and a second powder composed of UO 2 —Gd 2 O 3 and a sintering additive; producing a duplex compact consisting of an annular outer portion composed of the first powder and a cylindrical inner portion composed of the second powder; and sintering the duplex compact under a reducing gas atmosphere, wherein the sintering additive is manganese oxide of from 0.001% to 2% by weight based on the total weight of the cylindrical inner portion, and the density of the sintered duplex nuclear fuel pellet is more than 94% of theoretical value, wherein the sintering additive is added only to the second powder.