Development and compatibility of magnesium matrix fuel plates clad with 6061 aluminum alloy

摘要

Aluminum (Al) is a commonly used matrix for research reactor fuel plates. It has been found that a reaction between the fuel and the aluminum matrix may reduce or increase the irradiation stability of the fuel. To further understand the contribution of the reaction to the irradiation stability, experiments to develop a non-reacting matrix were performed. The work focused on magnesium (Mg), which is an excellent non-reacting matrix candidate and has a neutron absorption coefficient similar to Al. To avoid the formation of a liquid Al/Mg phase, improvements were made to the roll bonding process to achieve acceptable bonding at 415 C. After these methods were developed, fuel plates were produced with two fuels, uranium (U)-2 w/o molybdenum (Mo) and U-10-w/o Mo with two matrices, Al and Mg. A reaction between the magnesium and the 6061 Al cladding was discovered to take place during the processing at 415 C. To minimize the amount of reaction, methods were successfully developed to roll bond the fuel plates at 275 C. No reaction zone was observed in fuel plates processed at 275 C. Using this method, fuel plates with a Mg matrix are planned to be fabricated and included in the next irradiation matrix for the RERTR high density fuel development program.