The effects of irradiation on the thermal conductivity of sintered Li sub 2 O and. gamma. -LiAlO sub 2

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5246022

Ethridge, J L

Li{sub 2}O and LiAlO{sub 2} are two candidates for solid breeder materials in the United States' Fusion Power Program. Critical to fusion reactor breeder design efforts are thermophysical data - the bulk of which have only recently become available for unirradiated lithium ceramics. This investigation expands the current limited data base by presenting thermal-conducting data between 373-1173 K for both materials following fast-neutron irradiation. Samples were irradiated at 773-1173 K to lithium burnups {le} 11.5 {times} 10{sup 20} captures/cm{sup 3}. Comparisons are made between these data and those from unirradiated archive samples of the same materials. Significant reductions in thermal conductivity of both materials were observed at all irradiation times and temperatures. The reduction is attributed to crystallographic lattice damage resulting from the interaction of lattice atoms with high-energy neutrons. At lithium burnups greater than about 7 {times} 10{sup 20} capts/cm{sup 3}, measured thermal conductivity values (at 500 K) stabilized at approximately 70% of unirradiated values for both Li{sub 2}O and LiAlO{sub 2}. The most significant reductions occurred at low measurement temperatures.

• Research Organization: Washington Univ., Seattle, WA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5246022
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360206* -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Radiation Effects
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALUMINATES
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
BARYONS
BEAMS
CHALCOGENIDES
CRYSTAL LATTICES
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FAST NEUTRONS
FERMIONS
HADRONS
HIGH TEMPERATURE
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
LITHIUM OXIDES
NEUTRON BEAMS
NEUTRONS
NUCLEON BEAMS
NUCLEONS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLE BEAMS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATION EFFECTS
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES