Parameters Influencing Thermal Stability of U-Gd Nuclear Fuel

Abstract

Relations between the processes of growth of intermetallic inclusions and their surface segregation in binary and ternary alloys of zirconium are presented. An increased surface concentration of iron atoms was observed, and is associated with intermetallic inclusion growth with increased annealing temperature of the deformed alloys. Modelling the asymmetric growth of these intermetallic inclusions, leading to their migration, have enabled the determination of the diffusion coefficient of iron in these intermetallics.


Keywords: Thermal stability, resintering, U-Gd fuel, fuel pellets, pore-former, sintering temperature.

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