Zhiyuan Huang , Lidong Ma , Jianbao Zhang , Qing Zhou , Lei Yang , Haifeng Wang
{"title":"A first-principles simulation study on solubility of La, Nd, Zr and Mo in UO2 and U3O8","authors":"Zhiyuan Huang , Lidong Ma , Jianbao Zhang , Qing Zhou , Lei Yang , Haifeng Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155414","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Solubility of fission products (FPs) in spent nuclear fuels is a key issue in understanding their performance. In this study, a detailed density functional theory study on solubility of La, Nd, Zr and Mo in uranium dioxide (UO<sub>2</sub>) and triuranium octoxide (U<sub>3</sub>O<sub>8</sub>) was carried out. The most favorable sites of La, Nd, Zr and Mo were calculated by analyzing the solution energies of these four FP elements in UO<sub>2</sub> and U<sub>3</sub>O<sub>8</sub>. Thermodynamic properties of FPs doping in UO<sub>2</sub> as well as in U<sub>3</sub>O<sub>8</sub> were determined from 0 K to 2000 K. The results reveal that the effect of FPs on thermodynamic properties of U<sub>3</sub>O<sub>8</sub> is slightly larger than that of UO<sub>2</sub> due to the presence of an oxygen vacancy in FP-doped U<sub>3</sub>O<sub>8</sub>. On this basis, the solubility of La, Nd, Zr and Mo in UO<sub>2</sub> and U<sub>3</sub>O<sub>8</sub> was predicted, showing a good agreement with available experiments. Subsequently, the difference in solubility behaviors was studied through electronic properties. The simulation results indicate that the solubility of La, Nd, Zr and Mo in U<sub>3</sub>O<sub>8</sub> is much lower than that in UO<sub>2</sub>. Therefore, an idea to separate FPs from spent nuclear fuel is using mutual transformations between FP-doped UO<sub>2</sub> and FP-doped U<sub>3</sub>O<sub>8</sub> under different temperatures, which is a promising way to promote the development of nuclear fuel cycles.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":373,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Nuclear Materials","volume":"603 ","pages":"Article 155414"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Nuclear Materials","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022311524005154","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Solubility of fission products (FPs) in spent nuclear fuels is a key issue in understanding their performance. In this study, a detailed density functional theory study on solubility of La, Nd, Zr and Mo in uranium dioxide (UO2) and triuranium octoxide (U3O8) was carried out. The most favorable sites of La, Nd, Zr and Mo were calculated by analyzing the solution energies of these four FP elements in UO2 and U3O8. Thermodynamic properties of FPs doping in UO2 as well as in U3O8 were determined from 0 K to 2000 K. The results reveal that the effect of FPs on thermodynamic properties of U3O8 is slightly larger than that of UO2 due to the presence of an oxygen vacancy in FP-doped U3O8. On this basis, the solubility of La, Nd, Zr and Mo in UO2 and U3O8 was predicted, showing a good agreement with available experiments. Subsequently, the difference in solubility behaviors was studied through electronic properties. The simulation results indicate that the solubility of La, Nd, Zr and Mo in U3O8 is much lower than that in UO2. Therefore, an idea to separate FPs from spent nuclear fuel is using mutual transformations between FP-doped UO2 and FP-doped U3O8 under different temperatures, which is a promising way to promote the development of nuclear fuel cycles.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Nuclear Materials publishes high quality papers in materials research for nuclear applications, primarily fission reactors, fusion reactors, and similar environments including radiation areas of charged particle accelerators. Both original research and critical review papers covering experimental, theoretical, and computational aspects of either fundamental or applied nature are welcome.
The breadth of the field is such that a wide range of processes and properties in the field of materials science and engineering is of interest to the readership, spanning atom-scale processes, microstructures, thermodynamics, mechanical properties, physical properties, and corrosion, for example.
Topics covered by JNM
Fission reactor materials, including fuels, cladding, core structures, pressure vessels, coolant interactions with materials, moderator and control components, fission product behavior.
Materials aspects of the entire fuel cycle.
Materials aspects of the actinides and their compounds.
Performance of nuclear waste materials; materials aspects of the immobilization of wastes.
Fusion reactor materials, including first walls, blankets, insulators and magnets.
Neutron and charged particle radiation effects in materials, including defects, transmutations, microstructures, phase changes and macroscopic properties.
Interaction of plasmas, ion beams, electron beams and electromagnetic radiation with materials relevant to nuclear systems.