Engineering of Fuel Plates on Uranium-Molybdenum Monolithic: Critical Issues
Engineering of nuclear fuels using monolithic plates of uranium-molybdenum and Al-6061 cladding is the current challenge for research and test reactors. The main drawback of the manufacture of monolithic nuclear fuel was analyzed using two surface coating methods: aluminum sputtering and transient liquid phase bonding (TLPB). Coating was done with a commercial alloy of Al-Si (R-4047). These techniques were used to improve the metallurgical bonding between the UMo and the cladding by rolling. Finally, design parameters and manufacture of UMo plate fuels were established. Mechanical tests were used to characterize the plates, resulting in UTS values of about 700 and 1000 MPa for the UMo alloys. These results are complemented with metrological analyses, X-Ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analyses, and metallography. X-rays and ultrasound scanners were used to monitor bonding and the co-rolling effects. These initial results show the main obstacles to the engineering development of UMo monolithic plate fuels with Al-6061 cladding, and these are discussed herein.
γ-U phase in U-Pt system retained to low temperatures by means of rapid cooling
Abstract Splat-cooling technique with a cooling rate better than 106 K/s helps to increase the Pt solubility in the (cubic) γ-U phase and retain such γ-U phase in U-15 at.% Pt splat down to low temperatures. The splat-cooled U-Pt alloys are very stable in exposing to air. The γ-U phase (U-15 at.% Pt splat) is characterized by a negative temperature coefficient of the resistivity (dρ/dT
An investigation on the green properties of U-10wt.%Mo/Al and U3Si2/Al powder compacts
Abstract The effects of fuel powder volume fraction and fuel particle shape on green properties of compacts, which were produced by processing the blended U-10wt.%Mo and U 3 Si 2 with Al powders were investigated respectively, with respective to the compacting pressure range of 50–400 MPa. The relative density of the compacts increases with decreasing volume fraction of fuel powder. The compressibility of comminuted powder compacts was larger than that of the atomized powder compacts due to the fragmentation of comminuted particles, and the compressibility of the compacts of U-10wt.%Mo was larger than that of the compacts of U 3 Si 2 due to the deformation of U-10wt.%Mo particles. The green strength of the comminuted powder compacts is higher than that of the atomized powder compact. This seems to have resulted from the smaller pore size and the larger contact area between the comminuted fuel powders and Al powders. It is suggested that the compacting condition adjustment be required to fabricate the atomized powder compacts having comparable green strength.