EFFECT OF IRRADIATION ON FUEL MATERIALS. PART II

Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1959 · Nuclear Energy Engr.

OSTI ID:4228129

Kittel, J H; Paine, S H

July. Unalloyed uranium with suitable metallurgical treatment can be subjected to burnups of 2 at.%. Damage is severe. Deleterious changes occurring at moderate irradiation temperatures are principally due to surface roughing and anisotropic growth. Certain alloying conditions greatly refined the grain size in uranium, thus eliminating surface roughening. Alloying conditions can alter the transformation kinetics of uranium so that preferred orientation resulting from fabrication procedures may be largely removed by heat treatment. For alpha- phase alloys, these heat treatments usually consist of holding the material briefly in the gamma phase, followed by an extended isothermal anneal to permit thc alloy to transform completely to alpha. For alloys retaining the gamma phase on cooling, the preferred heat treatment is usually a quench from the gamma phase, which may be preceded by a homogenizing anneal at gamma temperatures. Both uranium and uranium-base alloys show definite irradiation temperature limitations, above which swelling occurs. Thorium and thorium-uraniuna alloys show dimensional stabilities which are superior to those shown by the metallic uranium fuels. Oxide fuels are characterized by even better stability under irradiation. Pellets of ThO/sub 2/ with additions of UO/sub 2/ show negligible dimensional changes after burnups on the order of l% of the metal atoms with central temperatures of 2,000 deg C or more during irradiation. (C.J.G.)

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., Lemont
• NSA Number: NSA-13-018632
• OSTI ID: 4228129
• Journal Information: Nuclear Energy Engr., Journal Name: Nuclear Energy Engr.
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ALLOYS
ANNEALING
BURNUP
EXPANSION
FUELS
GRAIN SIZE
HEAT TREATMENTS
HIGH TEMPERATURE
METALLURGY
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATION EFFECTS ON MATERIALS
SURFACES
THORIUM
THORIUM OXIDES
URANIUM
URANIUM DIOXIDE