Synthesis and oxidation behavior of Cr alloyed uranium borides at high temperatures
Name
moeykens-moeykens-bsms-nse-2025-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
Size
74.57 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
045193b80ee5f4a10f1a4a83b2fa7ce5
Author(s)
Moeykens, Riley S.
Advisor(s)
Jossou, Ericmoore
Date Issued
May 2025
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Following the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi Power Station in 2011, an urgent need for safer, more economical, and versatile nuclear fuels has arisen. In recent years, uranium boride (as a tetraboride and diboride) has been further investigated as a candidate fuel form for its high thermal conductivity, high melting point, high uranium loading, and potential for dual use as a fuel and burnable absorber. In this work, the synthesis, structural behavior, and oxidation behavior of uranium borides and chromium- and yttrium- alloyed uranium borides are investigated. The structure of the synthesized uranium borides and chromium- and yttrium- alloyed uranium borides were probed using synchrotron X- ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) and Pair Distribution Function (PDF) analysis with in-situ heating. The methods and challenges in synthesizing uranium boride and chromium- and yttrium-alloyed uranium boride, as well as the consequential thermophysical and oxidation properties of these potential fuel forms, are elucidated in this work.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Terms of Use
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Copyright retained by author(s)
Persistent DSpace Link
