Nuclear Engineering Commons^™

Electrochemical Approaches To Life-Support Resources In Space Missions And Nuclear Technologies: Hydrogen Peroxide And Uranium Films, Armando Manuel Pena-Duarte

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Space race has developed several technological advances that have achieved and continue to achieve the success of space missions in the aerospace timeline. Currently, the number of space technical and scientific innovations is still growing––demanding new materials and developments for extreme performing applications of fuel cells, batteries, supercapacitors, and systems of nuclear energy. Space missions require life-support solutions, auto-sustainable closed-loop living environments, cleaning and sanitizing solutions against pathogens, and safe nuclear-based resources of energy––with fissile materials with well-controlled dimensions within the core fuel elements. Likewise, to guarantee safety conditions, reduce costs, and facilitate operational logistics, space missions must reduce their …

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Of Zirconium Oxidation For In-Situ Nuclear Sensing Applications, Michael Andrew Reynolds

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

To meet the ever-growing energy demands of the modern world, alternative forms of producing power are necessary, and the field of nuclear engineering holds promise to answer this call. Nuclear fuel cladding in light water reactors (LWRs) currently draws a large amount of attention from scientists and researchers, as it provides many challenges to design around. Since the 1950s, zirconium and its protective oxide layer have been utilized as an effective material for the task, possessing good mechanical strengths, high corrosion resistance, and a low neutron absorption cross section. Despite these beneficial properties, however, fuel cladding remains vulnerable to several …

An Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of Flow Accelerated Flibe Corrosion, David B. Weitzel

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Renewed interest in molten salt reactor technology has brought to light the need for a better understanding of FLiBe corrosion. To this end a flowing FLiBe corrosion test loop was designed to test the flow effects of FLiBe corrosion. The loop consists of a pump, melt tank, and stainless-steel tubing assembly that heats the molten salt to high temperatures and circulates it over test specimens. The experiment has been constructed and has completed initial shakedown testing.

To support the flowing FLiBe experiment, a numerical corrosion model that couples FLiBe electrochemistry, solid metal diffusion, and mass transport was implemented. The model …

Electrochemical Separation Of Multivalent Species On A Liquid Bismuth Cathode In Licl-Kcl Eutectic For Used Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing, Michael Woods

Theses and Dissertations

The presence of group I/II fission products (Cs-137, Sr-90, and Ba-137) within molten salt nuclear processes degrades operational efficiencies by contributing to increased radiation levels in the case of material handling processes or to loss of criticality in the case of a reactor. While methods such as zone freezing and ion exchange have been proven for the separation of these fission products in LiCl-KCl salts, they require extra equipment and processing steps. Addition of a liquid metal electrode to molten salt media, such as the electrorefiner of a pyroprocessing scheme or the salt cleaning stage of a molten salt fast …

Corrosion Dynamics Of Carbon Steel In Used Fuel Container Environments, Dan Guo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The current Canadian used nuclear fuel container (UFC) design uses a pressure‑grade carbon steel (CS) vessel with its outer surface coated with a thin layer of copper. One concern regarding the structural integrity of the UFC design is the potential internal corrosion of the CS vessel. Moisture trapped inside a UFC could condense within the gap between the hemispherical head and the cylindrical body of the vessel. The internal UFC environment will be exposed to a continuous flux of ionizing radiation arising from the decay of radionuclides trapped in the used UO₂ fuel matrix.

This thesis research project investigates …

Investigating The Electrodeposition Of Plutonium And Curium For Safeguarding The Electrorefiner, Chantell L. Murphy

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

This research investigated the electrochemical deposition behavior of plutonium (Pu) and curium (Cm) for safeguarding the electrorefiner (ER) in a pyroprocessing facility. The main goal of this investigation was to evaluate the feasibility of using a safeguards concept called the neutron balance method to account for Pu in the ER. The neutron balance method relies on a known Pu/Cm ratio and measures neutrons from Cm-244 coming into and leaving a unit operation to track Pu. The application of the neutron balance approach for pyroprocessing facilities requires that Pu and Cm remain together in all extraction, product recovery, and waste streams. …

Electrochemical Studies Of Cerium And Uranium In Licl-Kcl Eutectic For Fundamentals Of Pyroprocessing Technology, Dalsung Yoon

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the characteristics of special nuclear materials in LiCl-KCl eutectic salt is extremely important in terms of effective system operation and material accountability for safeguarding pyroprocessing technology. By considering that uranium (U) is the most abundant and important element in the used nuclear fuel, measurements and analyses of U properties were performed in LiCl-KCl eutectic salt. Therefore, the electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), open circuit potential (OCP), Tafel, linear polarization (LP), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were conducted under different experimental conditions to explore the electrochemical, thermodynamic, and kinetic properties of U in LiCl-KCl eutectic. The ultimate goal …