Title: Nd, SbNd and Sb₃Nd₄ and their interactions with the cladding alloy HT9

Abstract

Lanthanide fission products, such as neodymium, formed during the irradiation of metallic fuels are known to cause deleterious effects from chemical interactions occurring at the fuel-cladding interface; a phenomenon known as fuel-cladding chemical interaction (FCCI). The use of fuel-based additives that bind with the lanthanide elements within the fuel meat, alleviating their interactions at the fuel-cladding interface, is one potential method proposed to mitigate the FCCI phenomenon and extend the burnup potential of such metallic fuel systems. In this study, antimony (Sb) is evaluated as one such additive, and neodymium (Nd) is used to represent the lanthanides. A Sb-Nd alloy is fabricated, which consists of two intermetallic phases, SbNd and Sb3Nd4. Isothermal diffusion couple experiments are carried out at 675 °C for 24 h between Nd and the Fe-12Cr based HT9 cladding alloy. The results are compared against similar diffusion couple experiments carried out between the Sb-Nd alloy and also HT9. Inter-diffusion between Nd/HT9 diffusion couple is characterized and the phases Fe17Nd5 and Fe17Nd2 were found to form whereas no interactions were observed in the Sb-Nd/HT9 diffusion couple. The lack of compound forming tendencies between Fe, the primary alloying constituent of HT9, and SbNd is elucidated through density functional theorymore » (DFT) calculations on enthalpy of mixing, aligning well with the experimental observations. The strong binding of Nd with Sb appears to be favorable, alleviating Nd interactions with HT9 constituent elements.« less

Authors:

Jerred, Nathan D.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-2887-639X"

Khanal, Rabi ^[2]; Benson, Michael T.  ^[3];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Benson, Michael T."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-4927-614X"

Mariani, Robert D.  ^[3];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Mariani, Robert D."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-7502-3536"

Choudhury, Samrat ^[2]; Charit, Indrajit ^[4]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID (United States); Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
2. Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID (United States)
3. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
4. Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID (United States); Center for Advanced Energy Studies, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Publication Date:

Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2020

Research Org.:

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Contributing Org.:

University of Idaho, Idaho National Laboratory, Center for Advanced Energy Studies

OSTI Identifier:

1647157

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1681042; OSTI ID: 1810945

Report Number(s):

INL/JOU-20-57928-Rev001
Journal ID: ISSN 0022-3115; TRN: US2202685

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC07-05ID14517; NE0008557

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Journal of Nuclear Materials

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 541; Journal Issue: -; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-3115

Publisher:

Elsevier

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; FCCI; fuel additives; HT9 cladding; lanthanide fission products; fuel-cladding chemical interaction; diffusion couple; neodymium; density functional theory electronic structure calculations; Fuel-cladding chemical interaction FCCI