Abstract
Nuclear energy provides a high capacity factor, safe and reliable energy for the world. Currently, uranium dioxide (UO 2 ) is used in light water reactors (LWRs) and several factors have been identified for improved reliability, safety, and performance. For example, fission gasses released during reactor operation increase the pressure in the cladding-fuel gap of fuel rods, reducing efficiency and reliability of the fuel. Promising results have shown that increasing grain size can improve fission gas retention by increasing the mean free diffusion path for these insoluble gasses. This project focuses on the investigation of two additives in cerium dioxide (CeO 2 ) as a surrogate fuel for UO 2 . X-Ray diffraction (XRD), percent theoretical density (%TD), optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) are the techniques used to characterize titanium oxide-doped (TiO 2 ) and manganese oxide-doped (MnO 2 ) CeO 2 samples. The purpose of this work was to verify the procedure for introducing the correct amount of dopant into each CeO 2 sample. XRD showed a single phase was consistent in all samples. Average grain size analysis confirmed in MnO 2 -doped CeO 2 samples that adding small amounts (500 wppm-10000 wppm) increases the grain size. MnO 2 -doped samples that maintained ≥ 95%TD had concentrations of 2500 wppm and 10000 wppm sintered at 1200°C and 500-1000 wppm sintered at 1500°C. MnO 2 -doped and TiO 2 -doped CeO 2 samples saw an increase in average grain size with a decrease in %TD as dopant concentration increased. ICP-MS confirmed chemical composition of samples.
Original language | American English |
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State | Published - 12 Jul 2021 |