Microstructural and Diffraction Studies on Th-U and Th-U-Mo Alloys

The motivation behind the present study is the resurgence of interest in the metallic fuels and attractive nuclear properties of thorium metal/alloys. In the present study, microstructural and diffraction studies on Th-U-Mo alloys have been presented. Molybdenum was added to the alloys to stabilize uranium as isotropic γ-U phase, to increase fissile loading beyond 20 wt% uranium. The microstructures of the alloys were studied using optical microscopy and SEM, and composition of the various phases was determined using EDS. The structural studies were carried out using X-ray and neutron diffraction, and the quantitative estimation of γ-U phase in Th-U-Mo alloys was done using Rietveld method on polycrystalline samples. (author)