DEVELOPMENT OF A NUCLEAR THERMIONIC FUEL ELEMENT. Quarterly Progress Report, Third Quarter, December 1, 1962-February 28, 1963

Technical Report · Fri Mar 15 04:00:00 EST 1963

OSTI ID:4072216

Materials Development. Long-term vacuum and cesium furnace tests were carried out on UO/sub 2/- Mo and UO/sub 2/--W fuel-clad specimens at 1800 and 2000 deg C respectively; metallographic examinations of the vacuum-exposed specimens show no evidence of interaction or interdiffusion. A pilot irradiation was made on UO/sub 2/--W. Fabrication of Moand W-clad enriched UO/sub 2/ pellets is reported. Insulator materials testing and fission gas venting experiments are described. Converter Development. Results of in-pile/outof-pile converter testing and of sub-component testing are reported. Reactor Design and Analysis. Some converter cell concepts are discussed. Physics calculations were carried out on a thermionlc reactor with zones of differing enrichment. (D.L.C.)

• Research Organization: General Electric Co. Vallecitos Atomic Lab., Pleasanton, Calif.
• NSA Number: NSA-18-015489
• OSTI ID: 4072216
• Report Number(s): GESR-2007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

CESIUM
CONVERSION
DIELECTRICS
DIFFUSION
DISTRIBUTION
ENRICHMENT
FABRICATION
FISSION PRODUCTS
FUEL CANS
FUEL ELEMENTS
GASES
HIGH TEMPERATURE
MATERIALS TESTING
MEASURED VALUES
METALLOGRAPHY
MOLYBDENUM
NOZZLES
PELLETS
PLANNING
REACTOR TECHNOLOGY
REACTORS
TESTING
THERMIONICS
TUNGSTEN
URANIUM DIOXIDE
VACUUM
ZONES