Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
2005 International RERTR Meeting

THERMODYNAMIC AND METALLURGICAL CONSIDERATIONS TO STABILIZING THE INTERACTION LAYERS OF U-MO/AL DISPERSION FUEL

Yeon Soo Kim ¹, G.L Hofman ¹, H.J. Ryu ², and J. Rest ¹

¹: Argonne

²: KAERI, assigned to the RERTR program at Argonne

ABSTRACT

Maintaining the interaction layer of U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel as a stable compound appears to be the key to avoiding massive pore formation. The stability of the interaction layer can be improved if it stays as a low-Al content compound such as (U-Mo)Al₃ by adding alloying elements in the Al matrix and the U-Mo alloy. The Miedema semi-empirical model was used to estimate the stability of the interaction layer when Si is added to the Al matrix and transition metal elements such as Zr, Ti, V, and Nb to the U-Mo fuel. The minimum Si concentration for stabilization was estimated. A small amount of Zr, Ti, V, and Nb addition can reduce the necessary Si amount.

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