Thermal conductivity of U-ZrHx and U-Th-Zr-H

Hydride fuels have been used in research reactors for many years. Recently, the transmutation method of nuclear wastes using actinide hydrides has been proposed. It was pointed out that one of the important research and development processes necessary to establish the transmutation method is to develop stable actinide hydrides in reactor irradiation conditions. Specifically, thermal conductivity of actinide hydride is necessary for the design of the hydride fuel pin. In this paper, the thermal conductivities of U-ZrHx and U-Th-Zr-H are evaluated. These hydrides have been tested in the Japan Material Testing Reactor (JMTR) in Japan as a simulated sample of an actinide transmutation target