Oxygen potential measurement of (U,Pu,Am)O and (U,Pu,Am,Np)O

Hirooka, Shun; Matsumoto, Taku; Kato, Masato; Sunaoshi, Takeo*; Uno, Hiroki*; Yamada, Tadahisa*

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 542, p.152424_1 - 152424_9, 2020/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152424

The measurement of oxygen potential was conducted at 1,673, 1,773, and 1,873 K for (UPuAm)O and at 1,873 and 1,923 K for (UPuAmNp)O by using a thermo-gravimeter and an oxygen sensor. Am inclusion in terms of substituting the U significantly increased the oxygen potential. Similarly, the inclusion of Np as a substitute for U increased the oxygen potential; however, the effect was not as large as that with the Pu or Am addition at the same rate. The results were analyzed via defect chemistry and certain defect formations were suggested in the reducing region and the near-stoichiometric region by plotting the relationship between PO and the deviation from the stoichiometry. The equilibrium constants of the defect reactions were arranged to reproduce the experiment such that Am/Np contents were included in the entropy with coefficients fitting the experimental data.

Atomistic modeling of hardening in spinodally-decomposed Fe-Cr binary alloys

Suzudo, Tomoaki; Takamizawa, Hisashi; Nishiyama, Yutaka; Caro, A.*; Toyama, Takeshi*; Nagai, Yasuyoshi*

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 540, p.152306_1 - 152306_10, 2020/11

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152306

Spinodal decomposition in thermally aged Fe-Cr alloys leads to significant hardening, which is the direct cause of the so-called 475C-embrittlement. To illustrate how spinodal decomposition induces hardening by atomistic interactions, we conducted a series of numerical simulations as well as reference experiments. The numerical results indicated that the hardness scales linearly with the short-range order (SRO) parameter, while the experimental result reproduced this relationship within statistical error. Both seemingly suggest that neighboring Cr-Cr atomic pairs essentially cause hardening, because SRO is by definition uniquely dependent on the appearance probability of such pairs. A further numerical investigation supported this notion, as it suggests that the dominant cause of hardening is the pinning effect of dislocations passing over such Cr-Cr pairs.

Effect of O/M ratio on sintering behavior of (PuU)O

Nakamichi, Shinya; Hirooka, Shun; Kato, Masato; Sunaoshi, Takeo*; Nelson, A. T.*; McClellan, K. J.*

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 535( ), p.152188_1 - 152188_8, 2020/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152188

Oxygen-to-metal ratio (O/M) of uranium and plutonium mixed oxide depends on its oxygen partial pressure. To attain the desirable microstructure and O/M ratio of sintered pellets, it is important to investigate the relation between the sintering behavior and the atmosphere of sintering process. In this study, sintering behavior of (PuU)O and (PuU)O in controlled po atmosphere were investigated. It was found activation energy of (PuU)O was higher than that of (PuU)O. On the other hand, it was observed grain growth during sintering was suppressed in hypo-stoichiometric composition.

Oxidation kinetics of silicon carbide in steam at temperature range of 1400 to 1800C studied by laser heating

Pham, V. H.; Nagae, Yuji; Kurata, Masaki; Bottomley, D.; Furumoto, Kenichiro*

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 529, p.151939_1 - 151939_8, 2020/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.151939

Material characterization of the VULCANO corium concrete interaction test with concrete representative of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plants

Brissonneau, L.*; Ikeuchi, Hirotomo; Piluso, P.*; Gousseau, J.*; David, C.*; Testud, V.*; Roger, J.*; Bouyer, V.*; Kitagaki, Toru; Nakayoshi, Akira; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 528, p.151860_1 - 151860_18, 2020/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.151860

The Effect of nitride formation on the oxidation kinetics of Zry-4 fuel cladding under steam-air atmospheres at 1273-1573 K

Negyesi, M.; Amaya, Masaki

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 524, p.263 - 277, 2019/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.07.010

First-principles calculation study on phonon thermal conductivity of thorium and plutonium dioxides; Intrinsic anharmonic phonon-phonon and extrinsic grain-boundary-phonon scattering effects

Nakamura, Hiroki; Machida, Masahiko

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 519, p.45 - 51, 2019/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.03.033

Thermal conductivity of nuclear fuel materials is one of the most essential thermophysical data in analyzing nuclear reactor safety and fuel performance. To establish a reliable technique of computation of their thermal conductivity, we apply a scheme based on first-principles electronic calculations and calculate phonon thermal conductivity of both plutonium and thorium dioxides. In the employed scheme, all phonon properties are calculated from harmonic and third-order anharmonic force constants obtained through first-principles calculations. Using these phonon properties, phonon thermal conductivity are computed with a standard phonon transport theory. The calculation results show a good agreement with experiments. Moreover, we evaluate grain-boundary effects on phonon thermal conduction. These results prove that the present first-principles scheme is reliably applicable to accurate computation of phonon thermal conductivity of fuel materials in the considered temperature range.

Primary radiation damage; A Review of current understanding and models

Nordlund, K.*; Zinkle, S. J.*; Sand, A. E.*; Granberg, F.*; Averback, R. S.*; Stoller, R. E.*; Suzudo, Tomoaki; Malerba, L.*; Banhart, F.*; Weber, W. J.*; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 512, p.450 - 479, 2018/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.10.027

Scientific understanding of any kind of radiation effects starts from the primary damage. We consider the extensive experimental and computer simulation studies that have been performed over the past several decades on what the nature of the primary damage is. We review both the production of crystallographic or topological defects in materials as well as radiation mixing, i.e. the process where atoms in perfect crystallographic positions exchange positions with other ones in non-defective positions. We also consider the recent effort to provide alternatives to the current international standard for quantifying this energetic particle damage, the Norgett-Robinson-Torrens displacements per atom (NRT-dpa) model for metals. We present in detail new complementary displacement production estimators ("athermal recombination corrected dpa": arc-dpa) and atomic mixing ("replacements per atom": rpa) functions that extend the NRT-dpa, and discuss their advantages and limitations.

Temperature measurement for in-situ crack monitoring under high-frequency loading

Naoe, Takashi; Xiong, Z.*; Futakawa, Masatoshi

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 506, p.12 - 18, 2018/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.12.019

A mercury target for neutron source (made of 316L SS) suffers not only proton and neutron radiation damage, but also cyclic impact stress caused by pressure waves. In the previous study, we carried out an ultrasonic fatigue test to investigate the gigacycle fatigue strength of 316L SS, concluding that specimen surface temperature rose abruptly more than 300C just before failure. In this study, to clarify the mechanism of the temperature rise, we measured temperature distribution with a thermography during the fatigue test. The experimental results showed that the temperature rose locally only at the crack tip and the peak position moved with the crack propagation. We also carried out a nonlinear structural analysis by LS-DYNA to estimate the temperature rise with strain energy of elements. The analytical result showed that the heat due to plastic deformation at the crack tip is dominant for the temperature rise rather than the friction between crack surface.

Recent studies for structural integrity evaluation and defect inspection of J-PARC spallation neutron source target vessel

Wakui, Takashi; Wakai, Eiichi; Naoe, Takashi; Shintaku, Yohei*; Li, T.*; Murakami, Kazuya*; Kanomata, Kenichi*; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Haga, Katsuhiro; Takada, Hiroshi; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 506, p.3 - 11, 2018/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.02.030

The mercury target vessel is designed as multi-walled structure with thin wall (min. 3 mm), and assembled by welding. In order to estimate the structural integrity of the vessel, it is important to measure the defects in welding accurately. For nondestructive tests of the welding, radiographic testing is applicable but it is difficult to detect for some defect shapes. Therefore it is effective to do ultrasonic testing together with it. Because ultrasonic methods prescribed in JIS inspect on the plate with more than 6 mm in thickness, these methods couldn't be applied as the inspection on the vessel with thin walls. In order to develop effective method, we carried out measurements using some testing method on samples with small defect whose size is specified. In the case of the latest phased array method, measured value agreed with actual size. It was found that this method was applicable to detect defects in the thin-walled structure for which accurate inspection was difficult so far.