| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T24: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Advanced Characterization of Materials for Nuclear, Radiation, and Extreme Environments V
|
| Presentation Title |
Synthesis and Irradiation of Uranium Carbide and Nitride for TRISO Development |
| Author(s) |
Jacob Minnette, Cale Overstreet, Evan Williams, Matthew Kurley, William Cureton, Igor Ivanov, Changyong Park, Elizabeth Sooby, Eric O'Quinn, Maik Lang |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Jacob Minnette |
| Abstract Scope |
Tri-structural Isotropic (TRISO) particles are a proposed fuel form that package uranium carbides, nitrides, and oxides within the kernel to provide maximum uranium loading and enhanced thermochemical performance. While prior irradiation studies have been carried out on uranium carbides and nitrides, there exists no information on the effect of fission-fragment type radiation (MeV/nucleon heavy ions). This work provides a comprehensive study on uranium fuel kernel synthesis (UC, UN, and UO2) and systematic ion bombardment with 198-MeV Xe ions. Synchrotron XRD and Raman spectroscopy show that UC and UN are highly resistant under ionizing radiation. Defect-induced swelling was observed that follows a direct-impact behavior with increasing fluence. Deduced track diameters are smaller in UC than in UO2 (3 nm versus 5 nm), but the saturation swelling is 3 times larger (0.15% versus 0.05%). Pronounced radiation-induced oxidation was observed in both UC and UN as a result of the highly ionizing radiation. |