Microstructural characterization of annealed U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd and U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln

Michael T. Benson; Yi Xie; Lingfeng He; Kevin R. Tolman; James A. King; Jason M. Harp; Robert D. Mariani; Brandon J. Hernandez; Daniel J. Murray; Brandon D. Miller

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.03.014

Microstructural characterization of annealed U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd and U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln

Michael T. Benson, Yi Xie, Lingfeng He, Kevin R. Tolman, James A. King, Jason M. Harp, Robert D. Mariani, Brandon J. Hernandez, Daniel J. Murray, Brandon D. Miller

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Palladium is being investigated as a potential additive to metallic fuel to bind fission product lanthanides, with the goal of reducing or preventing fuel-cladding chemical interactions (FCCI). A primary cause of FCCI is the lanthanide fission products moving to the fuel periphery and interacting with the cladding. This interaction will lead to wastage of the cladding and eventually to a cladding breach. The current study is the microstructural characterization of annealed U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd and U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln in wt. %, where Ln = 53Nd-25Ce-16Pr-6La, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In both alloys, the matrix is comprised of ζ-U _0.4 Pu _0.6 and δ-(U,Pu)Zr ₂ . Based on the matrix compositions, modifications to the room temperature extrapolated U-Pu-Zr ternary phase diagram are suggested. In U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd, there is very little δ phase, due to formation of PdZr ₂ . In U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln, a lanthanide-rich phase is present, although it does not have the crystal structure for 53Nd-25Ce-16Pr-6La. This phase cannot be identified based on known compounds. (Ln,Pu)Pd is the primary lanthanide phase, with Pu substituting into the crystal structure in place of Nd.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	287-297
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Nuclear Materials
Volume	518
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.03.014
State	Published - May 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-AC07-05ID14517 . Accordingly, the U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.

Funders	Funder number
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-AC07-05ID14517
Office of Nuclear Energy

Keywords

FCCI
Fuel additive
Metallic fuel
Transmutation fuel

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10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.03.014

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@article{46872f13e8124aa9b4fe488fbaba8e3f,

title = "Microstructural characterization of annealed U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd and U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln",

abstract = " Palladium is being investigated as a potential additive to metallic fuel to bind fission product lanthanides, with the goal of reducing or preventing fuel-cladding chemical interactions (FCCI). A primary cause of FCCI is the lanthanide fission products moving to the fuel periphery and interacting with the cladding. This interaction will lead to wastage of the cladding and eventually to a cladding breach. The current study is the microstructural characterization of annealed U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd and U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln in wt. %, where Ln = 53Nd-25Ce-16Pr-6La, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In both alloys, the matrix is comprised of ζ-U 0.4 Pu 0.6 and δ-(U,Pu)Zr 2 . Based on the matrix compositions, modifications to the room temperature extrapolated U-Pu-Zr ternary phase diagram are suggested. In U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd, there is very little δ phase, due to formation of PdZr 2 . In U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln, a lanthanide-rich phase is present, although it does not have the crystal structure for 53Nd-25Ce-16Pr-6La. This phase cannot be identified based on known compounds. (Ln,Pu)Pd is the primary lanthanide phase, with Pu substituting into the crystal structure in place of Nd.",

keywords = "FCCI, Fuel additive, Metallic fuel, Transmutation fuel",

author = "Benson, {Michael T.} and Yi Xie and Lingfeng He and Tolman, {Kevin R.} and King, {James A.} and Harp, {Jason M.} and Mariani, {Robert D.} and Hernandez, {Brandon J.} and Murray, {Daniel J.} and Miller, {Brandon D.}",

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

year = "2019",

month = may,

doi = "10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.03.014",

language = "English",

volume = "518",

pages = "287--297",

journal = "Journal of Nuclear Materials",

issn = "0022-3115",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Microstructural characterization of annealed U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd and U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln

AU - Benson, Michael T.

AU - Xie, Yi

AU - He, Lingfeng

AU - Tolman, Kevin R.

AU - King, James A.

AU - Harp, Jason M.

AU - Mariani, Robert D.

AU - Hernandez, Brandon J.

AU - Murray, Daniel J.

AU - Miller, Brandon D.

PY - 2019/5

Y1 - 2019/5

N2 - Palladium is being investigated as a potential additive to metallic fuel to bind fission product lanthanides, with the goal of reducing or preventing fuel-cladding chemical interactions (FCCI). A primary cause of FCCI is the lanthanide fission products moving to the fuel periphery and interacting with the cladding. This interaction will lead to wastage of the cladding and eventually to a cladding breach. The current study is the microstructural characterization of annealed U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd and U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln in wt. %, where Ln = 53Nd-25Ce-16Pr-6La, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In both alloys, the matrix is comprised of ζ-U 0.4 Pu 0.6 and δ-(U,Pu)Zr 2 . Based on the matrix compositions, modifications to the room temperature extrapolated U-Pu-Zr ternary phase diagram are suggested. In U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd, there is very little δ phase, due to formation of PdZr 2 . In U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln, a lanthanide-rich phase is present, although it does not have the crystal structure for 53Nd-25Ce-16Pr-6La. This phase cannot be identified based on known compounds. (Ln,Pu)Pd is the primary lanthanide phase, with Pu substituting into the crystal structure in place of Nd.

AB - Palladium is being investigated as a potential additive to metallic fuel to bind fission product lanthanides, with the goal of reducing or preventing fuel-cladding chemical interactions (FCCI). A primary cause of FCCI is the lanthanide fission products moving to the fuel periphery and interacting with the cladding. This interaction will lead to wastage of the cladding and eventually to a cladding breach. The current study is the microstructural characterization of annealed U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd and U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln in wt. %, where Ln = 53Nd-25Ce-16Pr-6La, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In both alloys, the matrix is comprised of ζ-U 0.4 Pu 0.6 and δ-(U,Pu)Zr 2 . Based on the matrix compositions, modifications to the room temperature extrapolated U-Pu-Zr ternary phase diagram are suggested. In U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd, there is very little δ phase, due to formation of PdZr 2 . In U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln, a lanthanide-rich phase is present, although it does not have the crystal structure for 53Nd-25Ce-16Pr-6La. This phase cannot be identified based on known compounds. (Ln,Pu)Pd is the primary lanthanide phase, with Pu substituting into the crystal structure in place of Nd.

KW - FCCI

KW - Fuel additive

KW - Metallic fuel

KW - Transmutation fuel

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062983678&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.03.014

DO - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.03.014

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85062983678

SN - 0022-3115

VL - 518

SP - 287

EP - 297

JO - Journal of Nuclear Materials

JF - Journal of Nuclear Materials

ER -

Microstructural characterization of annealed U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd and U-20Pu-10Zr-3.86Pd-4.3Ln

Abstract

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Keywords

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