Transmission Electron Microscopy Characterization of Fuel Cladding Chemical Interaction between Minor Actinides bearing U-Pu-Zr Fuel and AIM1 Cladding

IF 3.2 2区工程技术 Q3 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY Journal of Nuclear Materials Pub Date : 2025-03-01 Epub Date: 2025-02-03 DOI:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2025.155667

Di Chen, Jatuporn Burns, Karen E. Wright, Daniele Salvato, Tiankai Yao, Luca Capriotti

{"title":"Transmission Electron Microscopy Characterization of Fuel Cladding Chemical Interaction between Minor Actinides bearing U-Pu-Zr Fuel and AIM1 Cladding","authors":"Di Chen, Jatuporn Burns, Karen E. Wright, Daniele Salvato, Tiankai Yao, Luca Capriotti","doi":"10.1016/j.jnucmat.2025.155667","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Minor actinides (MA) significantly contribute to the long-term radiotoxicity of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Separating MA from SNF and incorporating it into metallic fuels for fast reactor transmutation is a potential method to reduce this radiotoxicity. This study focuses on transmission electron microscopy characterization of two samples from the fuel cladding chemical interaction (FCCI) region of an americium (Am) and neptunium (Np)-bearing (MA-bearing) uranium-plutonium-zirconium (U-Pu-Zr) fuel irradiated in the Phenix fast reactor to 9.5 % FIMA burnup at approximately 550 °C cladding temperature. The results show that despite the complex chemical interactions between MA and AIM1 cladding elements, excessive FCCI was not induced, and Am penetration depth in the cladding limited to less than 4 μm. Np remained mostly inside fuel. The Zr-rich compounds layer effectively limited the accumulation of lanthanide on the inner cladding surface. Overall, the FCCI behavior between investigated MA-bearing U-Pu-Zr fuel and AIM1 cladding is benign.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":373,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Nuclear Materials","volume":"607 ","pages":"Article 155667"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","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/S0022311525000625","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/2/3 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Minor actinides (MA) significantly contribute to the long-term radiotoxicity of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Separating MA from SNF and incorporating it into metallic fuels for fast reactor transmutation is a potential method to reduce this radiotoxicity. This study focuses on transmission electron microscopy characterization of two samples from the fuel cladding chemical interaction (FCCI) region of an americium (Am) and neptunium (Np)-bearing (MA-bearing) uranium-plutonium-zirconium (U-Pu-Zr) fuel irradiated in the Phenix fast reactor to 9.5 % FIMA burnup at approximately 550 °C cladding temperature. The results show that despite the complex chemical interactions between MA and AIM1 cladding elements, excessive FCCI was not induced, and Am penetration depth in the cladding limited to less than 4 μm. Np remained mostly inside fuel. The Zr-rich compounds layer effectively limited the accumulation of lanthanide on the inner cladding surface. Overall, the FCCI behavior between investigated MA-bearing U-Pu-Zr fuel and AIM1 cladding is benign.

查看原文

微信好友朋友圈 QQ好友复制链接

本刊更多论文

含U-Pu-Zr燃料的微量锕系元素与AIM1包壳间化学相互作用的透射电镜表征

微量锕系元素（MA）对乏核燃料（SNF）的长期放射性毒性有重要影响。从SNF中分离MA并将其掺入金属燃料中进行快堆嬗变是降低其放射性毒性的潜在方法。本研究的重点是在大约550°C包层温度下，在Phenix快堆中辐照到9.5% FIMA燃耗的含镅（Am）和含镎（Np）（ma）的铀-钚-锆（U-Pu-Zr）燃料包层化学相互作用（FCCI）区域的两个样品的透射电镜表征。结果表明，尽管MA和AIM1包层元素之间存在复杂的化学相互作用，但并未产生过多的FCCI， Am在包层中的穿透深度限制在4 μm以内。Np大部分留在燃料中。富锆化合物层有效地限制了镧系元素在内包层表面的积累。总体而言，所研究的含ma U-Pu-Zr燃料与AIM1包层之间的FCCI行为是良性的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文去求助

来源期刊

Journal of Nuclear Materials 工程技术-材料科学：综合

CiteScore

5.70

自引率

25.80%

发文量

601

审稿时长

63 days

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.