The results of Investigations of the nitrogen and uranium pressure in the system U–Zr–C–N in the temperature range 1873–2073 K and the constructed section of the U–Zr–C–N phase diagram at 1873 K are presented. The behavior of the solid fission products in carbonitride fuel, the interaction of the fuel with a pyrolytic carbon coating, and the behavior of micro fuel elements based on such fuel during high temperature firing and in the presence of a temperature gradient are examined. The conditions for the preparation of fuel compositions of the type uranium carbonitride in a carbide-silicon matrix and some of its physicochemical and mechanical properties are determined. It is noted that there is promise in using fuel compositions and micro fuel elements based on uranium-zirconium carbonitride for high-temperature applications.
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Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 123, No. 2, pp. 81–88, August, 2017.
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Chernikov, A.S., Zaitsev, V.A. & Khromov, Y.F. Nuclear Fuel Based on Uranium-Zirconium Carbonitride. At Energy 123, 96–104 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-017-0308-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-017-0308-y