Steam performance of UB2/U3Si2 composite fuel pellets, compared to U3Si2 reference behaviour

Abstract

Uranium diboride (UB 2 ) was produced via arc melting and mixed with U 3 Si 2 material via coldpress and sintering. Composite materials, from 0-100% UB 2 were placed in high temperature flowing steam and mass gain observed. It was seen that the addition of 10 wt% UB 2 to U 3 Si 2 increased the onset of reaction by 100 • C compared to pure U 3 Si 2 in the same conditions. 50 wt% UB 2 /U 3 Si 2 pellets maintained this increase, alongside a significant reduction in the ejection of material typically seen in U 3 Si 2 -steam reactions. From these results, a mechanism for both composite reaction and the performance of U 3 Si 2 in steam is proposed.

Synthesis of candidate advanced technology fuel: Uranium diboride (UB2) via carbo/borothermic reduction of UO2

“…Presently, the only reported route for UB 2 preparation is by melting elemental uranium and boron in stoichiometric amounts [3,8,9,10,32]. This procedure is only suitable for the preparation of small quantities of uranium diboride in a laboratory setting, (uranium powder is pyrophoric and not economical to produce).…”