Melting behavior of (Th,U)O2 and (Th,Pu)O2 mixed oxides
File(s)MOX-melting-manuscript-280516.pdf (2.26 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The melting behaviors of pure ThO2, UO2 and PuO2 as well as (Th,U)O2 and (Th,Pu)O2 mixed oxides (MOX) have been studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The MD calculated melting temperatures (MT) of ThO2, UO2 and PuO2 using two-phase simulations, lie between 3650-3675 K, 3050–3075 K and 2800–2825 K, respectively, which match well with experiments. Variation of enthalpy increments and density with temperature, for solid and liquid phases of ThO2, PuO2 as well as the ThO2 rich part of (Th,U)O2 and (Th,Pu)O2 MOX are also reported. The MD calculated MT of (Th,U)O2 and (Th,Pu)O2 MOX show good agreement with the ideal solidus line in the high thoria section of the phase diagram, and evidence for a minima is identified around 5 atom% of ThO2 in the phase diagram of (Th,Pu)O2 MOX.
Date Issued
2016-06-27
Date Acceptance
2016-06-21
Citation
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 2016, 479, pp.112-122
ISSN
1873-4820
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
112
End Page
122
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Nuclear Materials
Volume
479
Copyright Statement
© 2016 Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Grant Number
EP/K00817X/1
Subjects
Energy
0912 Materials Engineering
Publication Status
Published