Modelling the thermal conductivity of (UxTh1-x)O2 and (UxPu1-x)O2
- Imperial College, London (United Kingdom); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB, Vasteras (Sweden)
- Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)
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
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journal | July 2017 |
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