Thermodynamic investigations in the system U-Mo-O

Thermodynamic data on materials are required to answer some practical questions regarding chemical equilibria and also for the ultimate purpose of quantifying the relative stabilities of all possible chemical species. The present work was undertaken to determine what role molybdenum, one of the most preponderant fission products, could play in determining the state of the chemical equilibrium in the fuel fission product complex in an oxide-based nuclear reactor or in the nuclear waste disposed in ceramic or glass forms. To understand and analyze such complex systems, it is necessary to know which are the possible phases and species that are to be considered and their thermodynamic properties. In the present work attention was given to the ternary oxides of uranium and molybdenum with regard to the equilibria among the various phases. This is a prerequisite for determining the thermodynamic properties of the relevant phases. Therefore, experiments were carried out to construct the phase diagram in the region UO2-MoO2-O in a more precise manner than hitherto and, hence, to determine the free energy of formation of UMoO5