Continuum Scale Modeling of Thermal Conductivity in Hyperstoichiometric Uranium Dioxide

Journal Article · Wed Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:22992129

Travis, Austin W. ^[1]; Andersson, David A.; Nelson, Andrew T. ^[2]

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1. University of California, Irvine, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, 916 Engineering Tower, Irvine, CA 92617-2575 (United States)
2. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Conventional UO{sub 2} nuclear fuel is susceptible to oxidation via the formation of hyperstoichiometric uranium dioxide (UO{sub 2+x}) when exposed to air or high temperature water vapor in the event of a cladding breach during operation or storage. Below 1130 deg. C intermediate oxides U{sub 4}O{sub 9} and U{sub 3}O{sub 7} form; which degrades the thermal conductivity of the fuel. Understanding how the thermal conductivity degrades as a function of oxygen content and phase fractions is an important engineering problem for future fuel performance codes for safe and efficient reactor operation. (authors)

• OSTI ID: 22992129
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 114; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING
CLADDING
NUCLEAR FUELS
OXYGEN
REACTOR OPERATION
SIMULATION
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
URANIUM DIOXIDE
WATER VAPOR