Microstructural characterization of an irradiated RERTR-6 U-7Mo/AA4043 alloy dispersion fuel plate specimen blister-tested to a final temperature of 500°C

Journal Article · Mon Feb 27 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.02.038· OSTI ID:1363933

Keiser, Jr., Dennis D. ^[1]; Jue, Jan -Fong  ^[1]; Gan, Jian  ^[1]; Miller, Brandon D. ^[1]; Robinson, Adam B. ^[1]; Madden, James W. ^[1]; Finlay, M. Ross ^[2]; Moore, Glenn ^[1]; Medvedev, Pavel ^[1]; Meyer, Mitch ^[1]

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1. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
2. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Menai, NSW (Australia)

The Material Management and Minimization (M3) Reactor Conversion Program, in the past called the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactor (RERTR) Program, is developing low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuels for application in research reactors. U–Mo alloy dispersion fuel is one type being developed. Blister testing has been performed on different fuel plate samples to determine the margin to failure for fuel plates irradiated to different fission densities. Microstructural characterization was performed using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy on a sample taken from a U-7Mo/AA4043 matrix dispersion fuel plate irradiated in the RERTR-6 experiment that was blister-tested up to a final temperature of 500°C. The results indicated that two types of grain/cell boundaries were observed in the U- 7Mo fuel particles, one with a relatively low Mo content and fission gas bubbles and a second type enriched in Si, due to interdiffusion from the Si-containing matrix, with little evidence of fission gas bubbles. With respect to the behavior of the major fission gas Xe, a significant amount of the Xe was still observed within the U-7Mo fuel particle, along with microns into the AA4043 matrix. For the fuel/matrix interaction layers that form during fabrication and then grow during irradiation, they change from the as-irradiated amorphous structure to one that is crystalline after blister testing. In the AA4043 matrix, the original Si-rich precipitates, which are typically observed in as-irradiated U-Mo dispersion fuel, get consumed due to interdiffusion with the U-7Mo fuel particles during the blister test. Lastly, the fission gas bubbles that were originally around 2 nm in diameter and resided on a fission gas superlattice in the intragranular regions of as-irradiated U-7Mo fuel grew in size (up to ~20 nm diameter) during blister testing.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 1363933
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1396900
• Report Number(s): INL/JOU-16-39820; PII: S0022311516310819
• Journal Information: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 488, Issue C; ISSN 0022-3115
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
blister testing
focused ion beam
furnace heating
microstructure
nuclear fuel
research reactor
scanning electron microscopy
transmission electron microscopy
U-Mo alloy