| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
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Microstructural, Mechanical, and Chemical Behavior of Solid Nuclear Fuel and Fuel-Cladding Interface II
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| Presentation Title |
Phase Evolution of Neutron-Irradiated U-Mo Alloys at Low Temperature in the Low-Fluence Regime |
| Author(s) |
Sukanya Majumder, Jasmyne Nicole Emerson, Mehmet Topsakal, Gyuchul Park, Benjamin Beeler, Maria A Okuniewski |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Sukanya Majumder |
| Abstract Scope |
Uranium molybdenum (U-Mo) alloys have garnered significant interest in the nuclear fuels community due to their impressive irradiation stability. This stability is due to U-Mo existing in the metastable γ phase, which demonstrates isotropic swelling. However, at the operational temperatures of research and test reactors, the equilibrium phases are the α and the γ', which exhibit poor irradiation behavior due to anisotropic swelling. The γ phase, therefore, decomposes to the α+γ' upon thermal treatment, which is detrimental due to the anisotropic swelling behavior in-reactor. However, the α+γ' phases revert back into the γ phase upon irradiation. Therefore, irradiation and thermal treatments promote two opposing mechanisms which determine the overall stability of these fuels. In this study, this interplay between temperature and neutron irradiation dose is studied using synchrotron x-ray diffraction on U-7wt.%Mo and U-10wt.%Mo fuels fabricated by casting and cold-rolling. The phase evolution observed provides insights into the mechanisms involved. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Characterization, Phase Transformations |