A Study on Zirconium Rich Uranium-Zirconium Alloys

Uranium-zirconium alloy is the potential candidate materials as metallic fuels for nuclear reactor applications. Along with other properties, volumetric stability is an important issue for these types of fuels. In this work investigations were carried out on the zirconium rich uranium-zirconium alloys (i.e. U-50 wt% Zr, U-60 wt% Zr and U-70 wt% Zr) in as-cast as well as in heat treated conditions. Microstructural and dilatometric studies were carried out along with X-ray diffraction analysis to evaluate the phase content as well as the phase transformation behaviour of these alloys under different heat treated conditions.