PLUTONIUM FUELS DEVELOPMENT, PLUTONIUM METALLURGY OPERATION QUARTERLY REPORT FOR JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH 1959
; 8 8 7 8 9 ; > 9 > 5 12 wt.% Si-1.65 wt.% Pu were charged into the MTR. These capsules will be irradiated to a burnup of 80 to 100% of the plutonium atoms to determine the stability of the material at high exposures. An additional sixteen capsules containing 5 to 20 wt.% Pu in Al and Al-Si were prepared. A four-rod cluster containing Al-8 wt.% Pu and Al-Si-8 wt.% Pu cores was discharged from the KER Loop 3 facility. No external effect of the irradiation on the cluster was observed and it is now scheduled for examination in the Radiometallurgy facility. A second cluster of this same design is still awaiting assignment of Loop space in KER. Sintering studies of the system UO/sub 2/-PuO/sub 2/ have continued. It was found that additions of pure PuO/sub 2/ to UO/sub 2/ markedly decrease the sinterability. However, further evidence was obtained which indicates that PuO/sub 2/ added to UO/sub 2/ in the form of the mixed crystal oxide enhances sinterability as previously reponted. Bond strengths of 4000 to 5000 psi were obtained with injection cast aluminum cores in Zircaloy tubing. During solidification and subsequent cooling, the shrinkage of the core reduced the outside diameter of 0.030-inch wall Zircaloy tubes 0.003 to 0.006 inch without rupture of the bond. Injection castings made in Zircaloy tubing were plagued with gross porosity. An analysis of the aluminuta core in these areas revealed a total gas content of 5 ppm (expressed as H/sub 2/). Of the total gas, 16% was nitrogen from incomplete evacuation of the tube with the remainder being principally hydrogen which is thought to come from the Zircaloy tubing. A vacuum tube furnace is being constructed to vacuum outgas tubing before injection casting in an attempt to reduce the hydrogen concentration level. Large scale casting of extrusion billets was performed during the last quarter. One hundred forty-two, 21/2inch diameter by 91/2 inch long billets were made containing 0.5 to 5.0 wt.% Pu in aluminum. Melt and billet analyses were in most cases within 5% of nominal desired composition and indicated good homogeneity. Billets of corrosion rcsistant aluminum base alloys with an addition of a nominal 2 wt.% Pu were cast for extrusion. These materials will be autoclaved at 350 to 400 deg C in order to evaluate their corrosion resistance in hot water. The 280 ton extrusion press was activated for use with plutonium containing materials. Al-Pu rods were made at an extrusion ratio of 27 to 1 and extrusion constants were determined for alloys of 5, 1.8, and 0.5 wt.% Pu in aluminum. Coextrusions of Al-U alloy clad in 1100 aluminum with integral end caps were made. Ideal extrusion conditions and optimum billet configurations were not determined. A fillet head weld was developed for closure of Zircaloy clad fuel rods. This new weld design replaces the previously used circumferential weld and results in less costly weld joint preparation, a lower reject rate and greater versatility of application. Torsion and fatigue tests demonstrated the high quality of welds made by this process. Several improvements were made in the design of end brackets for the 19-rod Al-Pu cluster elements for the PRTR. The current design is well suited to investment casting techniques. Assembly, etching, and autoclaving experiments are in progress for the Zircaloy clad Al-Pu spike elements. These studies showed that it is not practical to insent fuel rods into as-received or presized tubing and maintain the required maximum diametral clearance of 0.0035 to 0.004 inch. This problem can most easily be overcome by inserting undersize rods into as-received tubing and sizing the tubing by swaging to give the required gap. The distribution of end clearance between the fuel rod and the end caps or the amount of this clearance seems to have no effect on the behavior of the elements during autoclaving. Elements can be cleaned, etched, wire wrapped, and autoclaved in that order to produce good corrosion resistant films on all Zircaloy
- Research Organization:
- General Electric Co. Hanford Atomic Products Operation, Richland, Wash.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AT(45-1)-1350
- NSA Number:
- NSA-14-015008
- OSTI ID:
- 4140220
- Report Number(s):
- HW-61994
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-60
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ALUMINUM ALLOYS- ATOMS- BURNUP- FUEL CANS- FUEL ELEMENT CLUSTERS- FUELS- INSPECTION- IRRADIATION- METALLURGY- MTR- PLUTONIUM- PLUTONIUM ALLOYS- QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS- RADIOMETALLURGY- RODS- SILICIDES- STABILITY
ALUMINUM ALLOYS- AUTOCLAVES- DEFECTS- DISTRIBUTION- FUEL CANS- METALLOGRAPHY- PLUTONIUM ALLOYS- PRESSURE VESSELS- RODS- TUBES- ZIRCALOY
ALUMINUM ALLOYS- CASTING- FUEL ELEMENT CLUSTERS- FUEL ELEMENTS- PLANNING- PLUTONIUM ALLOYS- PRTR
ALUMINUM- ALUMINUM ALLOYS- AUTOCLAVES- CASTING- CORROSION- EXTRUSION- FUEL CANS- MATERIALS TESTING- PLUTONIUM ALLOYS- PRESSURE VESSELS- QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS- RO