Uranium carbide oxidation from 873 K to 1173 K

Claudia Gasparrini (1) , Renaud Podor (2) , Olivier Fiquet (3) , Denis Horlait (4) , Sarah May , Mark R Wenman , William Lee (5)

1 Department of Earth Science and Engineering [Imperial College London]
2 L2ME - Etude de la Matière en Mode Environnemental
3 LM2C - Laboratoire de Modélisation Multi-échelles des Combustibles
4 CENBG - Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan
5 Okanagan College

Oxidation of UC was studied from 873 to 1173 K in air and in 10 Pa oxygen using a High Temperature Environmental SEM (HT-ESEM). Conversion to U3O8 improved when using 873 K as the oxide product was a fine powder. At higher temperatures (973 K to 1173 K) oxidation slowed due to a densification process with formation of coarse fragments. The oxide fragmentation at 973 K and 1073 K and oxide pulverisation at 873 K were observed in situ in a HT-ESEM. Cracking induced fragmentation and pulverisation was linked to stresses generated from the volumetric transformation from UC to U3O8.

Mots clés: Oxidation; Uranium oxide; Uranium carbide; SEM; HT-ESEM; TEM

Domaines: Matériaux; Chimie inorganique; Radiochimie

Claudia Gasparrini, Renaud Podor, Olivier Fiquet, Denis Horlait, Sarah May, et al.. Uranium carbide oxidation from 873 K to 1173 K. Corrosion Science, 2019, 151, pp.44-56. ⟨10.1016/j.corsci.2019.01.044⟩. ⟨hal-02335459⟩