Rhenium has been proposed for application as a cladding material for uranium dioxide ( UO 2 ) space reactor fuel because of its ductility, good corrosion resistance, and high melting point (3459 K). Rhenium is also important in reactor design to making proposed space nuclear reactors water submerged, sub-critical. To utilize rhenium as a cladding material it is necessary to know whether it would react with the UO 2 fuel at high temperatures. Any reactions that would weaken the cladding such as formation of a eutectic could cause the cladding to fail. However, insufficient test data exist to determine the compatibility of rhenium with uranium dioxide nuclear fuel at the temperatures likely to be encountered in a space nuclear reactor. To answer these questions, mixed powders of Re and UO 2 were sintered for 10 hours at 2500 K in a tungsten susceptor. Samples were analyzed by x-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. All analyses indicated no reaction between Re and UO 2 nor any interdiffusion of the elements.


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    Title :

    Rhenium compatibility with uranium dioxide at elevated temperatures


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Space Technology and Applications International Forum - 2001 ; 2001 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico


    Published in:

    AIP Conference Proceedings ; 552 , 1 ; 865-868


    Publication date :

    2001-02-02


    Size :

    4 pages





    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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