POWER REACTOR PROGRAM. Progress Report to Savannah River Operations Office, United States Atomic Energy Commission for the Period November 1, 1962 through November 30, 1962

Technical Report · Thu Dec 27 04:00:00 EST 1962

OSTI ID:4704238

Isserow, S; Anderson, R W; Davies, D M; Larson, W L; Bremer, A B

For the preparation of short tubular specimens for irradiation in the HWCTR, two unalloyed uranium tubes were extruded and U-350 ppm Fe--900 ppm Al core stock is being processed. Corrosion testing of Zircaloy-2 has shown that the film formed during heat treatment in salt is followed by excessive weight gains in 360 deg C water. In light of these results, it will be necessary either to protect the specimen from the salt during heat treatment or to remove the ftlm after heat treatment. In the effort to develop an improved fuel composition, uranium containing 350 ppm iron, 450 ppm aluminum, 350 ppm silicon, and 150 ppm chromium was evaluated by metallographic and hot hardness tests. The hot hardness of this alloy in the beta-quenched condition is comparable to that of U-- Fe-- Al modified with either silicon or chromium, with the exception that the hardness transition temperature for the U-- Fe-- Al-- Si-- Cr is about 50 deg C above that of the other alloys. The hardness of NMI's wrought U-- Fe-- Al-- Si-- Cr resembles that of a cast sample from another source. For brazing end closures on short tubes for HWCTR, a straight heating coil used with a 10,000 cycle induction heating power supply gave satisfactory brazes. Fabrication processes are being adapted to accommodate changes in core composition and dimensions of the redesigned driver tubes. X-ray fluorescence was selected as the method for the determination of uranium in the core all Experiments were initiated to nid the selection of the co extrusion temperature and end shape designs. (auth)

• Research Organization: Nuclear Metals, Inc., West Concord, Mass.
• NSA Number: NSA-17-011097
• OSTI ID: 4704238
• Report Number(s): NMI-7257
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ALUMINUM ALLOYS
BRAZING
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CLOSURES
COILS
CORROSION
CORROSION PROTECTION
EXTRUSION
FABRICATION
FILMS
FLUORESCENCE
HARDNESS
HEAT TREATMENTS
HEATING
HWCTR
INDUCTION
IRON ALLOYS
IRRADIATION
METALLOGRAPHY
METALS, CERAMICS, AND OTHER MATERIALS
PHASE DIAGRAMS
PLANNING
POWER PLANTS
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
REACTORS
SALTS
SAMPLING
SILICON COMPOUNDS
TEMPERATURE
TESTING
TUBES
URANIUM
URANIUM ALLOYS
WATER
WEIGHT
X RADIATION
ZIRCALOY