Corium lavas: structure and properties of molten UO2-ZrO2 under meltdown conditions

Alderman, O. L. G.; Benmore, C. J.; Weber, J. K. R.; Skinner, L. B.; Tamalonis, A. J.; Sendelbach, S.; Hebden, A.; Williamson, M. A.

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-20817-z

Title: Corium lavas: structure and properties of molten UO₂-ZrO₂ under meltdown conditions

Journal Article · Mon Feb 05 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20817-z· OSTI ID:1481173

Alderman, O. L. G. ^[1]; Benmore, C. J. ^[2]; Weber, J. K. R. ^[1];

^[3]; Tamalonis, A. J. ^[4]; Sendelbach, S. ^[4]; Hebden, A. ^[2]; Williamson, M. A. ^[2]

Materials Development, Inc., Arlington Heights, IL (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Stony Brook Univ., Stony Brook, NY (United States)
Materials Development, Inc., Arlington Heights, IL (United States)

In the exceedingly rare event of nuclear reactor core meltdown, uranium dioxide fuel reacts with Zircaloy cladding to produce eutectic melts which can subsequently be oxidized by coolant/moderator water. Oxidized corium liquids in the xUO₂·(100 – x)ZrO₂ system were produced via laser melting of UO₂-ZrO₂ mixtures to temperatures in excess of 3000 K. Contamination was avoided by floating the droplets on a gas stream within an aerodynamic levitator and in-situ high-energy x-ray diffraction experiments allowed structural details to be elucidated. Molecular dynamics simulations well reproduced diffraction and density data, and show less compositional variation in thermal expansion and viscosity than suggested by existing measurements. As such, corium liquids maintain their highly penetrating nature irrespective of the amount of oxidized cladding dissolved in the molten fuel. Metal-oxygen coordination numbers vary with both composition and temperature. The former is due to mismatch in native values, n_UO(x = 100) ≈ 7 and n_ZrO(x = 0) ≈ 6, and the requirement for oxygen site stabilization. Furthermore, the latter provides a thermal expansion mechanism.

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Research Organization:: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1481173

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, Issue 1; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 9 works

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