Thermodynamics. Vol. II. Proceedings of the Symposium on Thermodynamics with Emphasis on Nuclear Materials and Atomic Transport in Solids

Knowledge of the thermodynamics of nuclear materials is vital to the design of reactor fuels and moderating and cooling systems, in fact all facets of nuclear plant operation that involve mixtures of, or contact between, two or more elements in single- or multi-phase systems. The steep thermal gradients and the high temperatures involved in nuclear technology pose special problems for engineers and thermodynamicists, who have found that extrapolation of low-temperature data to high temperatures very often proves invalid. For this reason, standard thermodynamic techniques such as calorimetry and EMF-methods have been extended into high-temperature regions. Since the Agency's last conference on this subject, also held in Vienna (Thermodynamics of Nuclear Materials, 1962), there have been notable advances in calorimetry performed at temperatures greater than 1000°C, and in the use of EMF cells with solid electrolytes operated at similar temperatures. Significant advances have also been made in measuring diffusion parameters at the higher temperatures. An important field covered in this Symposium was the correlation of such atomic transport data with thermodynamic data, a prerequisite if the nuclear engineer is to incorporate diffusion results into his normal process- assessment techniques. Finally the Symposium suggested the requirements for good critical tables. The mere compiling of such data is no longer sufficient; the compiler must have free access to all the data of a particular experiment, he must have an intimate knowledge of experimental work in this field and he must weight every figure quoted in the light of his experience. As a step in this direction, the Agency has called on the services of many well-known experts and is preparing a number of monographs giving critical assessments of thermodynamic data and phase-diagrams for many of the elements of interest in reactor design. Most of the countries engaged in research in thermodynamics were represented at the meeting, which was held in co-operation with the Commission on Thermodynamics and Thermochemistry of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry