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Interaction of UO2 and Zircaloy During the ChernobylAccident

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 September 2012

S. V. Ushakov ,
B. E. Burakov ,
S. I. Shabalev  and
E. B. Anderson
S. V. Ushakov
Affiliation:
V. G. Khlopin Radium Institute, 28, 2-nd Murinsky ave., 194021, St. Petersburg, Russia
B. E. Burakov
Affiliation:
V. G. Khlopin Radium Institute, 28, 2-nd Murinsky ave., 194021, St. Petersburg, Russia
S. I. Shabalev
Affiliation:
V. G. Khlopin Radium Institute, 28, 2-nd Murinsky ave., 194021, St. Petersburg, Russia
E. B. Anderson
Affiliation:
V. G. Khlopin Radium Institute, 28, 2-nd Murinsky ave., 194021, St. Petersburg, Russia
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Abstract

A summary of the results collected during the studies of the products of achemical interaction between uranium oxide fuel and Zircaloy cladding in theChernobyl accident is presented in this paper. The reaction products aremainly Zr-U-containing phases with different U/Zr ratio and are described onthe basis of electron microprobe and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. TheZr-U-bearing phases were discovered among the inclusions in different typesof Chernobyl fuel-containing masses (”lava”) inside the destroyed 4th Unitand in hot particles collected up to 12 km from the 4th Unit along the WestPlume. A correlation of data on the chemical composition and phaseinterrelations obtained in investigated samples with a phase diagram ofZr(O) - UO2 shows, that a temperature >1900 °C was reached ina part of the core before the explosion. The detection of hot particle withsegregated morphology points out that liquid immiscibility existed betweenU-rich and Zr-rich melts. This and other observations indicate that the coretemperature locally was above 2400–2600°C.

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Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 465: Symposium II – Scienfific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XX , 1996 , 1313
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

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