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Radiation Effects in Zircon, Hafnon, and Thorite: Implications for Pu Disposal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

A. Meldrum ,
S.J. Zinkle ,
L.A. Boatner ,
M. Wu ,
R. Mu ,
A. Ueda ,
D.O. Henderson  and
R.C. Ewing
A. Meldrum
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831
S.J. Zinkle
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831
L.A. Boatner
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831
M. Wu
Affiliation:
Fisk University, Dept. of Physics, Nashville, TN 37208
R. Mu
Affiliation:
Fisk University, Dept. of Physics, Nashville, TN 37208
A. Ueda
Affiliation:
Fisk University, Dept. of Physics, Nashville, TN 37208
D.O. Henderson
Affiliation:
Fisk University, Dept. of Physics, Nashville, TN 37208
R.C. Ewing
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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Abstract

Synthetic ZrSiO4, HfSiO4, and ThSiO4 single-crystal specimens were irradiated by 800 keV Kr+ ions, and the microstructural evolution was observed in-situ in a transmission electron microscope. All three compounds were found to become amorphous up to temperatures in excess of 600°C. Using a new model, the activation energies for annealing were found to be in the range of 3.1 to 3.6 eV for these compounds. At temperatures above 600°C, the orthosilicates were observed to decompose into the component oxides (e.g., tetragonal ZrO2 + amorphous SiO2 in the case of zircon). A single-crystal zircon specimen was also irradiated with a pulsed picosecond Nd:YAG laser operated at 355 nm, and the resulting microstructure was investigated by optical absorption, SEM, AFM, and TEM techniques.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 540: Symposium N / Microstructural Processes in Irradiated Materials , 1998 , 395
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1999

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