Effects of heat treatment on U-Mo fuel foils with a zirconium diffusion barrier

A monolith fuel design based on U-Mo alloy has been selected as the fuel type for conversion of the United States' high performance research reactors (HPRRs) from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low-enriched uranium (LEU). In this fuel design, a thin layer of zirconium is used to eliminate the direct interaction between the U-Mo fuel meat and the aluminum-alloy cladding during irradiation. The co-rolling process used to bond the Zr barrier layer to the U-Mo foil during fabrication alters the microstructure of both the U-10Mo fuel meat and the U-Mo/Zr interface. This work studied the effects of post-rolling annealing treatment on the microstructure of the co-rolled U-Mo fuel meat and the U-Mo/Zr interaction layer. Microscopic characterization shows that the grain size of U-Mo fuel meat increases with the annealing temperature, as expected. The grain sizes were ∼9, ∼13, and ∼20 μm for annealing temperature of 650, 750, and 850 °C, respectively. No abnormal grain growth was observed. The U-Mo/Zr interaction-layer thickness increased with the annealing temperature with an Arrhenius constant for growth of 184 kJ/mole, consistent with a previous diffusion-couple study. The interaction layer thickness was 3.2 ± 0.5 μm, 11.1 ± 2.1 μm, 27.1 ± 0.9 μm for annealing temperature of 650, 750, to 850 °C, respectively. The homogeneity of Mo improves with post rolling annealing temperature and with U-Mo coupon homogenization. The phases in the Zr/U-Mo interaction layer produced by co-rolling, however, differ from those reported in the previous diffusion couple studies.