In connection with the need for using modified oxide nuclear fuel in VVER, the thermophysical characteristics of alloyed pellets have been measured in the interval 723–1873 K. It is established that the introduction of microquantities of Fe2O3, FeO, SiO2, Al2O3, and Nb2O5 made it possible to increase the uranium dioxide grain size to 25 μm and larger. The grain size of the pellets with additives of gadolinium oxide is about 10 μm. It is established that the introduction of alloying elements decreases the thermal diffusivity of uranium dioxide in the entire temperature range; in addition, gadolinium oxide has a greater effect than iron, aluminum, silicon, and niobium oxides. Dilatometric studies of uranium dioxide showed that between alloyed and pure samples the thermal expansion differs by no more than 10%.
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Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 110, No. 1, pp. 36–40, January, 2011.
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Baranov, V.G., Pokrovskii, S.A., Tenishev, A.V. et al. Thermophysical properties of modified oxide nuclear fuel. At Energy 110, 45–50 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-011-9389-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-011-9389-1