Thermoluminescence and linear thermal expansion of MgAl2O4

The co-efficient of linear thermal expansion (alpha (av)) and dose dependence of thermoluminescence (TL) in MgAl2O4(s) were measured. The change in length per unit length was recorded as a function of temperature between room temperature to 1,273 K at a heating rate of 8 K min(-1), in flowing argon atmosphere. The average of three measurements was quoted as the alpha (av) for MgAl2O4(s). The linear thermal expansion was measured to an accuracy of +/- 3 %. The dose dependence of the TL was found to be super linear in the dose range of 0-10 kGy with a k value of 0.503 indicating that the MgAl2O4(s) ceramic is ideally suited for the dose estimation of self-irradiated inert matrix fuel in a once through fuel cycle for actinide burning.