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Title: Modelling the thermal conductivity of (UxTh1-x)O2 and (UxPu1-x)O2

Journal Article · · Journal of Nuclear Materials
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Imperial College, London (United Kingdom); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB, Vasteras (Sweden)
  3. Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)
+ Show Author Affiliations

The degradation of thermal conductivity due to the non-uniform cation lattice of (UxTh1-x)O2 and (UxPu1-x)O2 solid solutions has been investigated by molecular dynamics, using the non-equilibrium method, from 300 to 2000 K. Degradation of thermal conductivity is predicted in (UxTh1-x)O2 and (UxPu1-x)O2 as compositions deviate from the pure end members: UO2, PuO2 and ThO2. The reduction in thermal conductivity is most apparent at low temperatures where phonon-defect scattering dominates over phonon-phonon interactions. The effect is greater for (UxTh1-x)O2 than UxPu1-x)O2 due to the greater mismatch in cation size. Parameters for an analytical expressions have been developed that describe the predicted thermal conductivities over the full temperature and compositional ranges. Finally, these expressions may be used in higher level fuel performance codes.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
EP/I036400/1; AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1255065
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-24388; PII: S0022311515301082
Journal Information:
Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 466, Issue C; ISSN 0022-3115
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 57 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (1)

The induced anisotropy in thermal conductivity of thorium dioxide and cerium dioxide journal July 2017

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74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
MOX
mixed oxide
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thermal conductivity
thermal diffusivity
UO2
PuO2
ThO2