Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Microstructural characteristics of a fresh U(Mo) monolithic mini-plate: Focus on the Zr coating deposited by PVD

  • Received : 2020.12.01
  • Accepted : 2021.02.26
  • Published : 2021.08.25
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Abstract

Within the frame of the EMPIrE test, four monolithic mini-plates were irradiated in the ATR reactor. In two of them, the monolithic U(Mo) foil had been PVD-coated with Zr before the plate manufacturing. Extensive microstructural characterizations were performed on a fresh archive mini-plate, using Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) combined with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) and Focused Ion Beam (FIB)/Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) with nano EDS. A particular attention was paid to the examination of the U(Mo) foil, the PVD coating, the cladding/Zr and Zr/U(Mo) interfaces. The Zr coating has a thickness around 15 ㎛. It has a columnar microstructure and appears dense. The cohesion of the cladding/Zr and Zr/U(Mo) interfaces seems to be satisfactory. An almost continuous layer with a thickness of the order of 100-300 nm is present at the cladding/Zr interface and corresponds to an oxidized part of the Zr coating. At the Zr/U(Mo) interface, a thin discontinuous layer is observed. It could correspond to locally oxidized U(Mo). This work provides a basis for interpreting the results of characterizations on EMPIrE irradiated plates.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the European Commission in the framework of HORIZON 2020 through Grant Agreement 754378 in the LEU-FOREvER project and preparatory work at TUM was supported by a combined grant (FRM1318) from the Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung and the Bayerisches Staatsministerium fur Bildung und Kultus, Wissenschaft und Kunst.

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