Influence of Irradiation-induced Microstructural Defects on Thermal Transport in Single Crystal Thorium Dioxide
Microstructural defects formed as a result of fission fragment damage are known to drastically alter thermal conductivity, a fuel property that governs the efficiency of a nuclear reactor. A fundamental understanding of radiation-induced effects on thermal transport is critical for the development of advanced fuels. Ion-irradiation has widely been used to simulate the effects of neutron-irradiation by seeding atomic-to-nanoscale defects of controllable size and density. In this work, we investigate the influence of microstructural defects, induced by ion-irradiation, on the thermal properties of single crystal thorium dioxide samples grown using the hydrothermal technique. The samples were irradiated using 2 MeV protons at room temperature. A laser-based modulated thermoreflectance technique was used to measure the thermal diffusivity and conductivity within the damaged ThO2 region. The experimentally measured thermal properties were compared with Boltzmann Transport Equation predictions, to determine the impact of various defect types on the thermal properties of ThO2.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-05ID14517
- OSTI ID:
- 1961844
- Report Number(s):
- INL/CON-20-57562-Rev000
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: TMS 2020 Annual Meeting & Exhibition, San Diego, CA, 02/24/2020 - 02/27/2020
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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