Selection of materials as diluents for burning of plutonium fuels in nuclear reactors

Abstract

The relevant physical properties and the chemical behaviour of homogeneous and heterogeneous diluents in PuO2 and PuN fissile materials are compiled and critically assessed. The out-of-pile properties of A12O3, MgO, MgAl2O4, CeO2, Ce2O3, Y2O3, ZrO2, CePO4, ZrSiO4, B4C, SiC, AlN, Mg3N2, Si3N4, CeN, YN and ZrN include, e.g. melting point, vapour pressure and thermal conductivity; the chemical behaviour towards steel, liquid sodium, water, air and nitric acid is reported. Promising diluents are AlN and ZrN, for which the dissolution behaviour in nitric acid was quantitatively examined. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.