Correlation Between Annealing And Irradiation Behavior Of Dispersion Fuels

Studying the effects of annealing of scaled-down dispersion fuel plates is an important part of the data base for fuel performance. One of the most critical aspects of fuel performance is the stability of a fuel/matrix dispersion which is usually measured by volumetric changes of the fuel zone. A correlation has been proposed that fission-induced amorphization is responsible for the instability of the fuel and that such transformations can be predicted by the thermodynamic properties of the fuel. It is proposed that annealing studies may be used as a screening test for new fuels for which no thermodynamic properties have been measured and/or no irradiation data are available. Estimations of irradiation performance could be obtained faster and without the expense of irradiating the fuels under investigation. Miniature fuel plates were fabricated by standard procedures and annealed at 400°C for up to 1981 hrs in a resistance wound furnace. At periodic intervals the plates were removed and the fuel zone volumes were calculated based on immersion density measurement data. 7 refs., 1 tab.