Refining and Stabilization of the Grain of Uranium by Small Additions. Study of Metallurgical Processing. The Fabrication, in Belgium, of Fuel Elements for the BR-II; AFFINAGE ET STABILISATION DU GRAIN D'URANIUM PAR FAIBLES ADDITIONS. ETUDE DU REPROCESSING METALLURGIQUE. FABRICATION, EN BELGIQUE, D'ELEMENTS DE COMBUSTIBLE POUR BR-II (in French)
With the goal of improving the grain of uranium, binary and ternary alloys containing less than 1 wt.% of zirconium, niobium, silicon, tin, aluminum, chromium, and vanadium were tested with and without forging and before and after thermal treatment. Alloys having a grain less than 50 {mu} were considered good. Niobium alone (0.03%) or associated with chromium (0.15% Nb and 0.03% Cr) or zirconium (0.15% Nb and 1.0% Zr) refined the grain of uranium to a large extent. For the forged samples, the ternary alloys with 1% Zr and 0.02% V seemed the best with the grain less than 40 {mu}. The binary and ternary alloys containing 0.66% Cr, 1.0% Zr with 0.03%fl Cr, 0.15% Nb with 0.03% Cr, and 0.30% Nb all had grains less than 50 {mu}. Zone melting of aluminum and uranium was tested for possible use on the processing of irradiated fuel elements. The results showed that this method could be used for purification of both metals. The fabrication of the "sandwich" plates, the forming of the plates and fabrication of the assembly, and the control of the component parts for the BR-II are described briefiy. (J.S.R.)
- Research Organization:
- Centre D'Etude de l'Energie Nucleaire, Brussels (Belgium)
- NSA Number:
- NSA-13-002188
- OSTI ID:
- 4279722
- Report Number(s):
- NP-6988
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-59
- Country of Publication:
- Belgium
- Language:
- French
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