THERMOELECTRIC NUCLEAR FUEL ELEMENT QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT FOR JANUARY- MARCH 1960
Materials preparation work was concentrated on sulfide, selenide, and telluride compounds of uranium, together with contact materials problems associated with these compounds. The uranium tellurides display- an unsatisfactorily low Seebeck coefficient. Encouraging results were secured from the uranium-tellurium-sulfur and uranium-tellurium-selenium compounds. Of the possible materials for contacts, iron and palladium gave encouraging results in withstanding the attack of fumes emanating from the thermoelectric compounds in operation. Nichrome contacts and nickel-arsenic contacts resisted attack to a fair degree in the presence of selenium. A correlation between the hot-pressed density and the chemical composition of good thermoelectric pellets appears to be emerging; it may become a valuable guide in future work. Three in-pile experiments were performed. Two (in WTR) were thermoelectric elements, one fission-fired and one with an externally energized rod heater. The latter demonstrated the feasibiliiy of making thermal conductivity measurements in a high-flux reactor. The third experiment, at BNL, involved irradiation of samples of 3M P-type lead telluride and lithium-nickel-oxide. Fabrication involved studies of: compatibility of potential cladding materials with lead telluride and germanium telluride; the effect of service-cycle type heating schedules on the thermoelectric properties of lead telluride and germanium telluride; the reliability of rod- and plate-type elements of these two materials, based on bench tests of electrically heated prototype elements; and a multijunction element arranged for an output potential in excess of one volt. (See also WCAP- 1245.) (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Westinghouse Electric Corp. Atomic Power Dept., Pittsburgh
- NSA Number:
- NSA-15-001760
- OSTI ID:
- 4157783
- Report Number(s):
- WCAP-1545
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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