THE IRRADIATION OF ALUMINUM-PLUTONIUM ALLOYS IN ZIRCALOY-2 SHEATHING. PART II. PRE-IRRADIATION EXPERIMENTS ON ALUMINUM-PLUTONIUM ALLOYS
Experiments were carried out with aluminum - plutoniunn alloys, containing up to 20 wt.% plutonium, to assess their potential value for water- cooled power reactors. Metallographic exanninations and hardness determinations were carried out on cast and annealed alloys and the densities of cast alloys were determined, for comparison with irradiated alloys. Interactions between Zircaloy-2 and aluminumplutonium alloys were studied by subjecting sheathed alloys to various thermal treatments. Liquation of the core alloys caused rapid sheath dissolution, 0.025 in./h at 660 deg C. Interaction was relatively slow at sub-solidus core temperatures, from 0.0015 to 0.006 in. in 26 hours at 636 deg C depending on the core composition. Interaction would be insignificant in water- cooled power reactors with core temperatures of 300 to 400 deg C. Corrosion rates of the bare alloys in 340 deg C de-ionized water in an AISI 316 stainlesssteel autoclave varied with composition. The 5 wt.% alloy corroded approximately 3 x 10/sup -3/ in./h, and the 20 wt.% alloy corroded only 1.5 x 10/sup -3/i in. in 6 3/4 days. The 10 and 15 wt.% alloys possessed intermediate rates. The 5 wt.% alloy in defected Zircaloy-2 cans underwent less attack than in the bare condition, approximately 2 x 10/sup -3/ in. in 20 hours. Anodically treated 5 and 10 wt.% alloys in defected sheaths showed no corrosive attack after 20 hours at 340 deg C. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Chalk River, Ont.
- NSA Number:
- NSA-14-008661
- OSTI ID:
- 4194418
- Report Number(s):
- CRFD-877; AECL-937
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-60
- Country of Publication:
- Canada
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
PLUTONIUM FUELS DEVELOPMENT, PLUTONIUM METALLURGY OPERATION QUARTERLY REPORT-JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH 1958
INTERGRANULAR CORROSION OF ALUMINUM-URANIUM AND ALUMINUM-SILICON-URANIUM ALLOYS