Hydrothermal Corrosion Studies on Nitride Fuels

Uranium mononitride (UN) has been identified as a candidate nuclear fuel for use in the current US light water reactor (LWR) fleet as well as in next generation nuclear plants (NGNP), largely due to its high uranium density and thermal conductivity. However, its hydrothermal corrosion performance in accident scenarios has not been thoroughly investigated. In this work, UN was synthesized using a hydride-dehydride-nitride thermal synthesis route prior to sintering into dense compacts (\u3e90%TD). The compacts were corroded in a water filled autoclave up to 350 °C and 125 atm. The kinetics of corrosion were characterized through phase analysis, mass loss, and microstructural analysis