Thermal conductivities of U/sub 3/Si and U/sub 3/Si/sub 2/-Al dispersion fuels
Two high density uranium silicides are being evaluated as replacements for the research reactor fuels currently in use. Employing these compounds permits a major reduction in uranium enrichment, and tests have shown that the silicide fuels perform well under irradiation. Thermal conductivity data are required for analysis of these results and for safety calculations. The data show that silicide-Al dispersion fuels have somewhat better thermal conductivities than U/sub 3/O/sub 8/-Al dispersions, but their principal advantage is in their increased uranium content. The differences between the thermal conductivities of U/sub 3/Si and U/sub 3/Si/sub 2/ dispersions are small, but the microstructure of the dispersion was found to have a major influence on thermal conductivity. This seems to be associated with the formation of planar porosity defects during the roll bonding process, and differences as large as a factor of four (59 vs. 14 W/m . K) were noted for the samples having equal U/sub 3/Si/sub 2/ contents (46 v/o).
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA); Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 6314038
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-851021-1; ON: DE86004796
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 19. international thermal conductivity conference, Cookeville, TN, USA, 20 Oct 1985
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ALUMINIUM ALLOYS
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
DISPERSION NUCLEAR FUELS
RESEARCH REACTORS
URANIUM SILICIDES
MICROSTRUCTURE
MODERATELY ENRICHED URANIUM
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDES
ALLOYS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENRICHED URANIUM
FUELS
ISOTOPE ENRICHED MATERIALS
MATERIALS
METALS
NUCLEAR FUELS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
SILICIDES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SOLID FUELS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
URANIUM
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
220600* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Research
Test & Experimental Reactors