Ternary Plutonium-Cerium-Nickel Alloys as a Possible Fuel for Fast Reactors with Liquid Metal Cores

The authors present results of a study of ternary plutonium-cerium-nickel alloys. From metallographic. thermal and X-ray analyses of these ternary alloys they obtained the projection of the liquidus curve onto the concentration triangle and the contours of the phase regions of the phase diagram over the isothermal cross-section for 400°C. The existence is established of a continuous series of solid solutions between the intermetallic compounds CeNi and PuNi, The maximum solubility of plutonium in the compound Ce7Ni3 is approximately 47.0 at. %. In the plutonium-cerium-nickel system there is a ternary eutectic with its melting point at 480°C. The composition of this eutectic is as follows: 45 at. % plutonium, 30 at. % cerium and 25 at.% nickel. The authors assume the existence of a peritectic point, the composition of which is not accurately established. The alloys, which lie along the valley line connecting the binary eutectics in the CeNi, PuNi system have a melting point not higher than 470°C. These alloys have a promising future as a fuel for fast reactors with liquid metal cores. (author)