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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

POWER REACTOR PROGRAM. Progress Report to Savannah River Operations Office, United States Atomic Energy Commission for the Period October 1, 1962 through October 31, 1962

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4713140
A short thin-walled enriched U-- 1.5 wt% Mo tube originally fabricated for testing at Vallecitos was processed and shipped for testing in the HWCTR with a previously processed companion tube. To further the development of new fuel compositions, short tubular specimens of unalloyed U and the U--350 ppm Fe--900 ppm Al alloy are being fabricated for irradiation in the HWCTR. As part of the effort to develop a fuel material with improved irradiation behavior, metallurgical studies were continued on U-- Fe-- Al alloys modified with various amounts of either Si or Cr. Hardness tests showed that only 200 ppm Si is necessary to develop the maximum hardness in the beta quenched alloy; no further benefit is obtained with additions of Si to 1100 ppm. The hardening effect of Si is markedly reduced by overaging at 600 deg C. In the aged material, Si still has a hardening effect, which increases with Si content to 1100 ppm and is at least partly a dispersion hardening effect. Additions of Cr increase the hot hardness of the beta quenched U-- Fe-- Al to the level obtained with Si additions. In contrast to the Si additions, the Cr additions do not contribute to the hardness of the U-- Fe-- Al after overaging at 600 deg C. In the effort to develop techniques for brazing end closures on coextruded fuel tubes, improved control of induction heating apparently can be achieved with a modified coil design and a 10,000 cycle power supply. (auth)
Research Organization:
Nuclear Metals, Inc., West Concord, Mass.
NSA Number:
NSA-17-011096
OSTI ID:
4713140
Report Number(s):
NMI-7256
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English