Effect of Grain Boundaries on Krypton Segregation Behavior in Irradiated Uranium Dioxide

Journal Article · Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-014-1182-x· OSTI ID:1177644

Valderrama, Billy ^[1]; He, Lingfeng ^[2]; Henderson, Hunter B. ^[1]; Pakarinen, Janne ^[2]; Jaques, Brian ^[3]; Gan, Jian ^[4]; Butt, Darryl P. ^[3]; Allen, Todd R. ^[5]; Manuel, Michele V. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
2. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Dept. of Engineering Physics
3. Boise State Univ., Boise, Idaho (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
4. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
5. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Dept. of Engineering Physics; Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Fission products, such as krypton (Kr), are known to be insoluble within UO₂, segregating towards grain boundaries, eventually leading to a lowering of the thermal conductivity and fuel swelling. Recent computational studies have identified that differences in grain boundary structure have a significant effect on the segregation behavior of fission products. However, experimental work supporting these simulations is lacking. Atom probe tomography was used to measure the Kr distribution across grain boundaries in UO₂. Polycrystalline depleted-UO₂ samples was irradiated with 0.7 and 1.8 MeV Kr-ions and annealed to 1000ºC, 1300ºC, and 1600°C for 1 hour to produce a Kr-bubble dominated microstructure. The results of this work indicate a strong dependence of Kr concentration as a function of grain boundary structure. Temperature also influences grain boundary chemistry with greater Kr concentration evident at higher temperatures, resulting in a reduced Kr concentration in the bulk. While Kr migration is active at elevated temperatures, no changes in grain size or texture were observed in the irradiated UO₂ samples.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 1177644
• Report Number(s): INL/JOU-14-32737; TRN: US1500183
• Journal Information: Journal of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, Vol. 66, Issue 12; ISSN 1047-4838
• Publisher: Springer
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
URANIUM DIOXIDE
KRYPTON
GRAIN SIZE
IRRADIATION
KRYPTON IONS
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
TEMPERATURE RANGE 1000-4000 K
ABUNDANCE
SEGREGATION
MEV RANGE 01-10
KEV RANGE 100-1000
ANNEALING
POLYCRYSTALS
SWELLING
TOMOGRAPHY
ATOMS
BUBBLES
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
NUCLEAR FUELS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
PROBES
TEXTURE
ATOM PROBE TOMOGRAPH
BUBBLE
GRAIN BOUNDARY
KRYPTON DISTRIBUTION