Patent ID: 8449795

Claim:
A method of producing nuclear fuel pellets, the method comprising: producing an U 3 O 8 powder having a surface area of more than 1 m 2 /g and having dominantly a plate shape by oxidizing UO 2 pellets at a temperature of 300 to 370° C. in such a way that a maximum weight increase rate per 1 g of the UO 2 pellets is up to 0.06 wt %/min; producing a mixed powder by mixing the U 3 O 8 powder with an UO 2 powder so that a quaintly of the U 3 O 8 powder is 2 to 15% by weight of the UO 2 powder; producing a compact by compression molding the mixed powder; and sintering the compact in a reducing gas atmosphere at a temperature of 1600 to 1800° C., wherein each of the UO 2 pellets has a weight of 100 mg or more and a density in a range of 8.8 g/cm 3 to 10.96 g/cm 3 .