Non-stoichiometry in U3Si2

Middleburgh, Simon C.; Grimes, Robin W.; Lahoda, Ed J.; Stanek, Christopher Richard; Andersson, David A.

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.10.016

Title: Non-stoichiometry in U₃Si₂

Journal Article · Sat Oct 08 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.10.016· OSTI ID:1343721

Middleburgh, Simon C. ^[1]; Grimes, Robin W. ^[2];

^[3];

^[4];

^[4]

Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB, Vasteras (Sweden); Imperial College London, London (United Kingdom)
Imperial College London, London (United Kingdom)
Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC, Cranberry Woods, PA (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Uranium silicides, in particular U₃Si₂, are being explored as an advanced nuclear fuel with increased accident tolerance as well as competitive economics compared to the baseline UO₂ fuel. Here we use density functional theory calculations and thermochemical analysis to assess the stability of U₃Si₂ with respect to non-stoichiometry reactions in both the hypo- and hyper-stoichiometric regimes. We find that the degree of non-stoichiometry in U₃Si₂ is much smaller than in UO₂ and at most reaches a few percent at high temperature. Non-stoichiometry impacts fuel performance by determining whether the loss of uranium due to fission leads to a non-stoichiometric U₃Si_2±x phase or precipitation of a second U-Si phase. Lastly, we also investigate the U₅Si₄ phase as a candidate for the equilibrium phase diagram.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1343721

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1396826

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-17-20854; TRN: US1701554

Journal Information:: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 482, Issue C; ISSN 0022-3115

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 45 works

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Cited By (2)

Uranium nitride-silicide advanced nuclear fuel: higher efficiency and greater safety Wilson, Tashiema L.; Moore, Emily E.; Adorno Lopes, Denise Advances in Applied Ceramics, Vol. 117, Issue sup1 https://doi.org/10.1080/17436753.2018.1521607	journal	October 2018
A first-principles study on the influences of metal species Al, Zr, Mo and Tc on the mechanical properties of U ₃ Si ₂ Gao, Haigen; Liu, Yande; Hu, Jun Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 22, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1039/c9cp03814k	journal	January 2020

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