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In situ high temperature X-ray diffraction study of the kinetics of phase separation in the uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (U0.55Pu0.45)O2-x

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2014

Romain VAUCHY ,
Renaud.C. BELIN ,
Anne-Charlotte ROBISSON  and
Fiqiri HODAJ
Romain VAUCHY
Affiliation:
CEA Cadarache, CEA, DEN, DEC, SPUA, Cadarache F-13108 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance, France Science et Ingénierie des Matériaux et Procédés (SIMaP, associé au CNRS UMR 5266 – UJF/INP-Grenoble), Domaine Universitaire, 1130 rue de la piscine, BP 75, F-38402 Saint Martin d’Hères, France
Renaud.C. BELIN*
Affiliation:
CEA Cadarache, CEA, DEN, DEC, SPUA, Cadarache F-13108 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance, France
Anne-Charlotte ROBISSON
Affiliation:
CEA Cadarache, CEA, DEN, DEC, SPUA, Cadarache F-13108 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance, France
Fiqiri HODAJ
Affiliation:
Science et Ingénierie des Matériaux et Procédés (SIMaP, associé au CNRS UMR 5266 – UJF/INP-Grenoble), Domaine Universitaire, 1130 rue de la piscine, BP 75, F-38402 Saint Martin d’Hères, France
*
*Corresponding author at CEA, DEN, DEC, SPUA, Cadarache F-13108 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance, France. Phone: +334 42 25 49 54, Fax: +334 42 25 47 17, E-mail: renaud.belin@cea.fr
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Abstract

Uranium-plutonium mixed oxides incorporating high amounts of plutonium are considered for future nuclear reactors. For plutonium content higher than 20%, a phase separation occurs, depending on the temperature and on the oxygen stoichiometry. This phase separation phenomenon is still not precisely described, especially at high plutonium content. Here, using an original in situ fast X-ray diffraction device dedicated to radioactive materials, we evidenced a phase separation occurring during rapid cooling from 1773 K to room temperature at the rate of 0.05 and 2 K per second for a (U0.55Pu0.45)O2-x compound under a reducing atmosphere. The results show that the cooling rate does not impact the lattice parameters of the obtained phases at room temperature but their fraction. In addition to their obvious fundamental interest, these results are of utmost importance in the prospect of using uranium-plutonium mixed oxides with high plutonium content as nuclear fuels.

Keywords

x-ray diffraction (XRD)actinidenuclear materials
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1645: Symposium EE/ZZ – Advanced Materials in Extreme Environments , 2014 , mrsf13-1645-ee04-07
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2014 

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