THE EMISSION OF VOLATILE FISSION PRODUCTS FROM URANIUM DIOXIDE

Technical Report · Sat Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1963

OSTI ID:4645069

Davies, D; Long, G; Stanaway, W P

The post-irradiation heating technique was used to measure the rate of emission of volatile fission products from lightly irradiated UO/sub 2/ at temperatures in the range 1000 to 2200 deg C. At temperatures below 1600 deg C in low density samples the observed diffusion coefficients of I, Te, and Cs were comparable with that of Xe. In samples of higher densities, however, the rates of emission of the volatile species exceeded that of Xe. Other fission products (e.g., the alkali earths) were also emitted in small amounts; here the rate- controlling factor is believed to be the transpiration of the emitted species away from the sample. At temperatures in excess of 2000 deg C the emission of all volatile fission products was high, approaching 100% in some circumstances. This is attributed to sweeping out of the fission products by moving grain- boundaries in the UO/sub 2/. (auth)

• Research Organization: United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Research Group. Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, Berks, England
• NSA Number: NSA-17-035076
• OSTI ID: 4645069
• Report Number(s): AERE-R-4342
• Country of Publication: United Kingdom
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ALKALINE EARTH METALS
CESIUM
DENSITY
DIFFUSION LENGTH
EMISSION
FISSION PRODUCTS
GRAIN SIZE
HEATING
HIGH TEMPERATURE
IODINE
IRRADIATION
MEASURED VALUES
REACTOR TECHNOLOGY
TELLURIUM
URANIUM DIOXIDE
VOLATILITY
XENON