in order to fulfil the requirements of energetic transition, the nuclear based electricity production will have to fit the production fluctuations of renewable energies. When a nuclear reactor ramps up, the risk of fuel rod rupture is increased if the fuel pellets they contain are fractured. The CEA is developing a prototype pellet that does not break when a reactor ramps up power.
The objective of this thesis is to perfect the prototype already developed during a previous study to move towards a prototype pellet made of uranium dioxide.The candidate will have to adapt the initial two-dimensional geometry to a 3-dimensional pellet shape that can be manufactured with the tools of the fuel studies department (Institut IRESNE - CEA Cadarache), in particular the new additive manufacturing platform adapted to uranium dioxide. He will then have to participate in the manufacturing of prototypes which will then be tested in a temperature gradient generated on the department's laser heating platform.

The candidate will have skills in material sciences and will interact with several research teams involved in numerical simulation, ceramics fabrication and experiences at high temperature.