DEVELOPMENT OF THORIUM-URANIUM-BASE FUEL ALLOYS

Technical Report · Fri Mar 18 04:00:00 EST 1960

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4169671· OSTI ID:4169671

Farkas, M. S.; Bauer, A. A.; Dickerson, R. F.

Thorium-uranium alloys were studied with the aim of developing alloys with improved irradiation behavior by control of microstructure. The effect of thorium purity, melting technique, hot and cold working, and heat treatment on microstructure was investigated. The most signifi- . cant microstructural differences occurred as a result of casting technique, The arc-melted alloys exhibited the most nearly ideal structure, that of a homogeneous dispersion of small-diameter uranium particles in a thorium matrix, In addition, the rate of work hardening, recrystallization behavior, density, and hot hardness of thoriumuranium alloys were determined. As uranium content increases, the rate of work hardening increases, The recrystallization temperature of thorium was found to increase by over 100 deg C when uranium is present. Molybdenum, niobium, zirconium, and zirconium in conjunction with niobium were added to thorium- uranium with the aim of increasing irradiation resistance by stabilizing the gamma-uranium phase and/or improving the hightemperature strength of the alloy. It was found that small additions of molybdenum or niobium were effective in stabliizing the gamma-uranium phase, while zirconium was an effective hardener at temperatures up to 600 deg C, Zirconium additions to thorium-uranium alloys were effective in improving the 300 deg C water corrosion resistance of thorium by a factor of two. (auth)

• Research Organization: Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, Ohio
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-92
• NSA Number: NSA-14-012831
• OSTI ID: 4169671
• Report Number(s): BMI-1428
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ADDITIVES
CASTING
COLD WORKING
CORROSION
DENSITY
DISPERSIONS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC ARCS
HARDNESS
HEAT TREATMENTS
HIGH TEMPERATURE
IMPURITIES
IRRADIATION
MATRICES
MELTING
METALLOGRAPHY
METALS, CERAMICS, AND MATERIALS
MOLYBDENUM
NIOBIUM
PARTICLES
RECRYSTALLIZATION
ROLLING
STABILITY
TEMPERATURE
TENSILE PROPERTIES
THORIUM
THORIUM ALLOYS
URANIUM
URANIUM ALLOYS
WATER
ZIRCONIUM