SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMPATIBILITY OF URANIUM AND PLUTONIUM NITRIDES WITH SEVERAL STAINLESS STEEL ALLOYS

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1967

OSTI ID:4050916

Allbutt, M; Junkison, A R

Previous observations of the compatibility of UN with metals are reviewed. It is shown on thermodynamic grounds that, due to the influence of oxygen impurities, UN will behave in practice as a Un-U{sub 2}N{sub 3} mixture whilst the nitriding potential of PuN will be greater than that of the pure compound. At 900 deg C stainless steel in contact with UN for times of 250 hours and above develops a reaction zone of up to 10 microns thickness. Features identified within the reaction zone include metal ex-foliation, precipitation of UO{sub 2} and grain boundary hardening. With the exception of UO{sub 2} precipitation these features are produced by nitrogen alone under the pressure of the UN-U{sub 2}N{sub 3} equilibrium. From tests using PuN it is inferred that the behaviour of Un/PuN solid solutions will resemble that of a UN/U{sub 2}N{sub 3} mixture.

• Research Organization: Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell (United Kingdom)
• NSA Number: NSA-25-032791
• OSTI ID: 4050916
• Report Number(s): AERE-R--5466
• Country of Publication: United Kingdom
• Language: English

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