Mechanical Properties of K Basin Sludge Constituents and Their Surrogates

Technical Report · Mon Dec 06 00:00:00 EST 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/15010706· OSTI ID:15010706

Delegard, Calvin H; Schmidt, Andrew J; Chenault, Jeffrey W

A survey of the technical literature was performed to summarize the mechanical properties of inorganic components in K Basins sludge. The components included gibbsite, ferrihydrite, lepidocrocite and goethite, hematite, quartz, anorthite, calcite, basalt, Zircaloy, aluminum, and, in particular, irradiated uranium metal and uranium dioxide. Review of the technical literature showed that information on the hardness of uranium metal at irradiation exposures similar to those experienced by the N Reactor fuel present in the K Basins (typically up to 3000 MWd/t) were not available. Measurements therefore were performed to determine the hardness of coupons taken from three irradiated N Reactor uranium metal fuel elements taken from K Basins. Hardness values averaged 30 {+-} 8 Rockwell C units, similar to values previously reported for uranium irradiated to {approx}1200 MWd/t. The physical properties of candidate uranium metal and uranium dioxide surrogates were gathered and compared. Surrogates having properties closest to those of irradiated uranium metal appear to be alloys of tungsten. The surrogate for uranium dioxide, present both as particles and agglomerates in actual K Basin sludge, likely requires two materials. Cerium oxide, CeO2, was identified as a surrogate of the smaller UO2 particles while steel grit was identified for the UO2 agglomerates.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 15010706
• Report Number(s): PNNL-14947; 830403000; TRN: US0500314
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: 6 Dec 2004
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM
ANORTHITE
BASALT
CALCITE
CERIUM OXIDES
FUEL ELEMENTS
GIBBSITE
GOETHITE
HEMATITE
IRRADIATION
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
N-REACTOR
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
QUARTZ
SLUDGES
TUNGSTEN
URANIUM
URANIUM DIOXIDE
ZIRCALOY
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
K BASIN SLUDGE
GIBBSITE
FERRIHYDRITE
LEPIDOCROCITE AND GOETHITE
HEMATITE
QUARTZ
ANORTHITE
CALCITE
BASALT
ZIRCALOY
ALUMINUM
AND
IN PARTICULAR
IRRADIATED URANIUM METAL AND URANIUM DIOXIDE
N REACTOR FUEL
ROCKWELL C
TUNGSTEN
CERIUM OXIDE
SURROGATE