| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2023 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Seaborg Institutes: Emerging Topics in Actinide Materials and Science
|
| Presentation Title |
Thermochemical Behavior and Microstructural Characterization of Advanced Fuels in Oxidizing and Reducing Atmospheres |
| Author(s) |
Elizabeth S. Sooby |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Elizabeth S. Sooby |
| Abstract Scope |
Commercial fuel vendors are considering higher uranium density fuels to enhance fuel economy and better accommodate accident tolerant cladding, and the leading designs for small modular reactors are looking toward complex, particle fuel architectures. There exist several gaps in our scientific understanding of how f-electron systems behave in both oxidizing and reducing atmospheres. With the terminal oxidation product for uranium in low oxidant partial pressures being UO<sub>2</sub>, we would expect breakaway oxidation kinetics at temperatures relevant to fuel during irradiation. However, depending on the bonding cation we observed varied oxidation kinetics. For some fuel compounds this has been linked to hydridization. Furthermore, for advanced cladding materials such as silicon carbide, thermochemical driven destabilization can occur at T~1200°C. Presented will be the characterization of these materials following exposure to high temperature oxidizing and reducing atmospheres along with the experimentally observed thermochemistry governing the dynamic response of nuclear materials to extreme environments. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Characterization, |