Vapor pressure of liquid uranium oxide: a review

Vapor pressures of liquid oxide reactor fuels are among the most important material data required for theoretical analyses of Hypothetical Core Disruptive Accidents (HCDAs) in Fast Breeder Reactors. This report is an attempt to completely summarize and critically review the numerous theoretical and experimental results published for the pessure-temperature and pressure-energy relation of UO2. First, to define the research goal, the precision in the saturation vapor pressure which is required for HCDA purposes, is quantified. Then the various theoretical and experimental methods used for the determination of p-T and p-U data are reviewed with respect to their results and uncertainties. The achievements of the individual methods are discussed in the light of the research goal and, in view of the widely scattered data, p-T as well as p-U relations are recommended for liquid UO2