Characterization of solid fission products in 13.7% FIMA MOX fuel using electron microscopy techniques

Riley J. Parrish; Karen E. Wright; Alexander J. Winston; C. McKinney; Jason M. Harp; A. Aitkaliyeva

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.06.042

Characterization of solid fission products in 13.7% FIMA MOX fuel using electron microscopy techniques

Riley J. Parrish, Karen E. Wright, Alexander J. Winston, C. McKinney, Jason M. Harp, A. Aitkaliyeva

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Abstract

This work utilizes electron microscopy-based techniques to examine the radial behavior of solid fission products in plutonium (Pu) bearing mixed oxide (MOX) fuel irradiated to a burnup of 13.7% fissions per initial metal atom (FIMA). Metallic precipitates primarily consist of five fission products: ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), technetium (Tc), molybdenum (Mo), and palladium (Pd). The five metal precipitates (FMPs) examined in this work have low concentrations of Pd and Mo, with no major compositional differences along the fuel radius. A secondary Pd–Te metallic phase forms in cooler regions of the pellet, likely due to the diffusion of gaseous species away from the central void. X-ray chemical maps indicate that the Pd–Te phase can nucleate on the surface of FMPs before precipitating into separate particles. These particles were also found to alloy with iron (Fe) near the surface of the fuel pellet due to interdiffusion with the stainless-steel cladding. The insoluble perovskite oxide phase was found to form near the central void and at intermediate radial positions, but not at the fuel edge. These findings suggest that solid fission product phases form at varying counts and compositions along the fuel pellet radius, and thus should be considered when describing the thermal behavior of the fuel.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	67-79
Number of pages	13
Journal	Journal of Nuclear Materials
Volume	524
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.06.042
State	Published - Oct 2019
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy , Office of Nuclear Energy under DOE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07- 051D14517 as part of a Nuclear Science User Facilities experiment. The authors would like to thank Dr. Lingfeng He, Dr. Xiang Liu, James Madden, Miles Cook, Nicholas Bolender, Mark Taylor, and JoAnn Grimmett of the Idaho National Laboratory for their assistance at various stages of this project. Special thank you goes to Dr. Fabiola Cappia for help with reviewing this manuscript.

Funders	Funder number
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-AC07- 051D14517
Office of Nuclear Energy

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title = "Characterization of solid fission products in 13.7% FIMA MOX fuel using electron microscopy techniques",

abstract = "This work utilizes electron microscopy-based techniques to examine the radial behavior of solid fission products in plutonium (Pu) bearing mixed oxide (MOX) fuel irradiated to a burnup of 13.7% fissions per initial metal atom (FIMA). Metallic precipitates primarily consist of five fission products: ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), technetium (Tc), molybdenum (Mo), and palladium (Pd). The five metal precipitates (FMPs) examined in this work have low concentrations of Pd and Mo, with no major compositional differences along the fuel radius. A secondary Pd–Te metallic phase forms in cooler regions of the pellet, likely due to the diffusion of gaseous species away from the central void. X-ray chemical maps indicate that the Pd–Te phase can nucleate on the surface of FMPs before precipitating into separate particles. These particles were also found to alloy with iron (Fe) near the surface of the fuel pellet due to interdiffusion with the stainless-steel cladding. The insoluble perovskite oxide phase was found to form near the central void and at intermediate radial positions, but not at the fuel edge. These findings suggest that solid fission product phases form at varying counts and compositions along the fuel pellet radius, and thus should be considered when describing the thermal behavior of the fuel.",

author = "Parrish, {Riley J.} and Wright, {Karen E.} and Winston, {Alexander J.} and C. McKinney and Harp, {Jason M.} and A. Aitkaliyeva",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Elsevier B.V.",

year = "2019",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.06.042",

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T1 - Characterization of solid fission products in 13.7% FIMA MOX fuel using electron microscopy techniques

AU - Parrish, Riley J.

AU - Wright, Karen E.

AU - Winston, Alexander J.

AU - McKinney, C.

AU - Harp, Jason M.

AU - Aitkaliyeva, A.

PY - 2019/10

Y1 - 2019/10

N2 - This work utilizes electron microscopy-based techniques to examine the radial behavior of solid fission products in plutonium (Pu) bearing mixed oxide (MOX) fuel irradiated to a burnup of 13.7% fissions per initial metal atom (FIMA). Metallic precipitates primarily consist of five fission products: ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), technetium (Tc), molybdenum (Mo), and palladium (Pd). The five metal precipitates (FMPs) examined in this work have low concentrations of Pd and Mo, with no major compositional differences along the fuel radius. A secondary Pd–Te metallic phase forms in cooler regions of the pellet, likely due to the diffusion of gaseous species away from the central void. X-ray chemical maps indicate that the Pd–Te phase can nucleate on the surface of FMPs before precipitating into separate particles. These particles were also found to alloy with iron (Fe) near the surface of the fuel pellet due to interdiffusion with the stainless-steel cladding. The insoluble perovskite oxide phase was found to form near the central void and at intermediate radial positions, but not at the fuel edge. These findings suggest that solid fission product phases form at varying counts and compositions along the fuel pellet radius, and thus should be considered when describing the thermal behavior of the fuel.

AB - This work utilizes electron microscopy-based techniques to examine the radial behavior of solid fission products in plutonium (Pu) bearing mixed oxide (MOX) fuel irradiated to a burnup of 13.7% fissions per initial metal atom (FIMA). Metallic precipitates primarily consist of five fission products: ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), technetium (Tc), molybdenum (Mo), and palladium (Pd). The five metal precipitates (FMPs) examined in this work have low concentrations of Pd and Mo, with no major compositional differences along the fuel radius. A secondary Pd–Te metallic phase forms in cooler regions of the pellet, likely due to the diffusion of gaseous species away from the central void. X-ray chemical maps indicate that the Pd–Te phase can nucleate on the surface of FMPs before precipitating into separate particles. These particles were also found to alloy with iron (Fe) near the surface of the fuel pellet due to interdiffusion with the stainless-steel cladding. The insoluble perovskite oxide phase was found to form near the central void and at intermediate radial positions, but not at the fuel edge. These findings suggest that solid fission product phases form at varying counts and compositions along the fuel pellet radius, and thus should be considered when describing the thermal behavior of the fuel.

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JO - Journal of Nuclear Materials

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ER -

Characterization of solid fission products in 13.7% FIMA MOX fuel using electron microscopy techniques

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