Abstract
Thermochemical studies on fuel and fission products have significantly contributed to our understanding of the chemical behavior of nuclear fuels during normal operation and in possible accident situations. These studies help in modeling of the operating fuel materials and can predict the fuel performance. An understanding of the vaporization behavior of fuels and fission products is essential for estimating the redistribution of various elements in the steep temperature gradients that exist across the fuel pellets. The buildup of fission product elements influence the change of thermodynamic potentials of oxygen, carbon, or nitrogen in oxide, carbide, or nitride fuels. The change in oxygen potential in an oxide fuel element affects the chemical constitution of the fuel. The oxygen potential of the fuel at different oxygen to metal ratio is the key parameter in understanding the oxidation behavior and the resultant chemistry of the fission products inside the oxide fuels. The thoria-based fuels with low urania content exhibits a very fast growth of the potential at the onset of hyperstoichiometry, while that of pure urania exhibits a better buffering action against the increase in the potential. In order to understand the oxygen redistribution among fission products and clad, knowledge of the oxygen potentials of their metal/metal oxide systems and chemical transport property of the oxide fuel for oxygen should be known. The thermodynamic properties of the possible chemical states of alkali and alkaline earth fission products and their relative stabilities as thorates, zirconates, iodides, tellurides, uranates, molybdites, molybdates, etc. also influence the distribution of oxygen among the fission products. A review of thermochemical properties of possible binary and ternary oxides resulting from the fuel-fission products’ interactions which influence the fuel performance will be presented considering the oxygen transport and other kinetic aspects.
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Bharadwaj, S.R., Mishra, R., Basu, M., Das, D. (2013). Thermochemistry of Thoria-based Fuel and Fission Products Interactions. In: Das, D., Bharadwaj, S. (eds) Thoria-based Nuclear Fuels. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5589-8_4
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