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Cation and vacancy disorder in U1−yNdyO2.00−x alloys

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Abstract

In the present article, the intermixing and clustering of U/Nd, O, and vacancies were studied by both laboratory and synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction in U1−yNdyO2−x alloys. It was found that an increased holding time at the high experimental temperature during initial alloy preparation results in a lower disorder of the Nd distribution in the alloys. Adjustment of the oxygen concentration in the U1−yNdyO2−x alloys with different Nd concentrations was accompanied by the formation of vacancies on the oxygen sublattice and a nanocrystalline component. The lattice parameters in the U1−yNdyO2−x alloys were also found to deviate significantly from Vegard’s law when the Nd concentration was high (53%) and decreased with increasing oxygen concentration. Such changes indicate the formation of large vacancy concentrations during oxygen adjustment at these high temperatures. The change in the vacancy concentration after the oxygen adjustment was estimated relative to Nd concentration and oxygen stoichiometry.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Research is sponsored by the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy, Fuel Cycle Research and Development Program. The calculations (DSA) were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. The National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported under U.S.D.O.E. Grant No. DE-AC02-98CH10886.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37831, USA

    Rozaliya I. Barabash

  2. Fuel Cycle and Isotopes Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37831, USA

    Stewart L. Voit

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Dilpuneet S. Aidhy

  4. Nuclear Engineering Department, College of Engineering and Computing, The University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, 29208, USA

    Seung Min Lee & Travis W. Knight

  5. Nuclear Science and Technology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, 11973, USA

    David J. Sprouster & Lynne E. Ecker

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  1. Rozaliya I. Barabash
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Barabash, R.I., Voit, S.L., Aidhy, D.S. et al. Cation and vacancy disorder in U1−yNdyO2.00−x alloys. Journal of Materials Research 30, 3026–3040 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2015.261

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