Interfacial reaction between U-Zr alloys and HT9

Uranium-plutonium-zirconium alloys have been considered one of the advanced fast reactor fuels. During irradiation, these alloys swell and come into contact with the cladding, then metallurgical reaction at the fuel-cladding interface occurs and affects the integrity of the cladding. The reaction between the fuel alloy and the Fe-base cladding materials should be well understood in order to evacuate the fuel performance. Several studies were conducted on the reactions between U-Zr or U-Pu-Zr alloys and stainless steels. This study investigates the solid-states reaction layers formed at 700 .deg. C at two kinds of diffusion interfaces: dispersion type (U-10wt%Zr)-50wt%Zr alloy/HT9 and alloy type U-55wt%Zr alloy/HT9