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Full-Text Articles in Nuclear Engineering
Dissolution, Reactor, And Environmental Behavior Of Zro2-Mgo Inert Fuel Matrix, Kenneth Czerwinski
Dissolution, Reactor, And Environmental Behavior Of Zro2-Mgo Inert Fuel Matrix, Kenneth Czerwinski
Fuels Campaign (TRP)
This project examines inert fuels containing ZrO2 and MgO as the inert matrix, with the relative amount of MgO varied from 30% to 70% in ZrO2. Reactor physics calculations are used to examine suitable quantities of burnable poisons from the candidate elements Gd, Er, or Hf with reactor grade Pu providing the fissile component, with up to 10% of 239Pu. Ceramics are synthesized and characterized based on the reactor physics results. The solubility of the fuel ceramics, in reactor conditions, reprocessing conditions, and repository conditions, are investigated in a manner to provide thermodynamic data necessary for …
Solution-Based Synthesis Of Nitride Fuels, Kenneth Czerwinski, Thomas Hartmann
Solution-Based Synthesis Of Nitride Fuels, Kenneth Czerwinski, Thomas Hartmann
Fuels Campaign (TRP)
A wide variety of fuel concepts are considered for advanced reactor technology including metals, metal oxides or metal nitrides as solid solutions or composite materials. Nitride fuels have appropriate properties for advanced fuels including high thermal conductivity, thermal stability, solid-state solubility of actinides, fissile metal density, and suitable neutronic properties. A drawback of nitride fuels involves their synthesis. A key parameter for preparing oxide fuels is the precipitation step in the sol-gel process. For nitride fuels, the current synthetic route is carbothermic reduction from the oxide to the nitride. This process step is based on solid phase reactions and for …