Over forty years of ‘Thermodynamics of Nuclear Materials’

Thermodynamic assessments of the Bi–U and Bi–Mn systems

“…In recent decades, the rise in oil prices and the increased concern about environmental protection from greenhouse gas emissions have promoted the attention to the use of nuclear power as a viable energy source for power generation [1][2][3]. Nuclear power will play a significant part in the world's energy supply throughout this century.…”

Simulations of coupled heat transport, oxygen diffusion, and thermal expansion in UO2 nuclear fuel elements

“…The heat generation rate varies from an initial value Q 0 = 0 W/m 3 to a final value Q max,0 = 2 Â 10 8 W/m 3 , according to Eq. (4). The temperature at the outer surface of the steel cladding is maintained at T b = T 0 = 750 K. We consider three initial non-stoichiometry cases: weak, moderate, and strong non-stoichiometry corresponding to x 0 = 0.001, 0.01, and 0.1, respectively, and perform simulations corresponding to both Dirichlet-and Neumann-type boundary conditions for the oxygen diffusion equation.…”

“…are subjected to severe radiation environments that change their thermo-mechanical properties [4]. For instance, ceramic fuels exhibit radial and angular cracks and the severity of such structural damages increases with burn-up [5].…”

“…In this study we demonstrate that coupling heat transport, oxygen diffusion, and thermal expansion in a fuel pellet can provide insight into the main mechanisms that cause fuel damage. This is a complex computational task that involves a detailed knowledge of UO 2 thermochemistry [4,17,18].…”

Modeling the thermochemical behavior of AmO2−x

“…This is especially true of oxide fuels as these have the greatest international interest. The thermochemical properties and phase equilibria of these systems are particularly important as noted in recent reviews by Minato et al [2] and Potter [3]. An effort to model the AmO 2Àx phase was undertaken to provide basic information for use in the thermochemical and phase equilibrium modeling of transuranic fuel and targets.…”