Thermal conductivity of U–20 wt.%Pu–2 wt.%Am–10 wt.%Zr alloy

Abstract The authors fabricated U–20 wt.%Pu–2 wt.%Am–10 wt.%Zr alloys and evaluated the heat capacity and thermal conductivity. The heat capacity was measured between 335 and 827 K by a drop calorimetry. The thermal diffusivity was measured between 300 and 1073 K by a laser flash method. The thermal conductivity was evaluated from the measured thermal diffusivity and heat capacity. The thermal conductivity of U–20 wt.%Pu–2 wt.%Am–10 wt.%Zr alloy was slightly higher than literature values of U–Pu–Zr and U–Pu–MA–Zr alloys. The thermal conductivity was formulated for use in practical design for Generation IV fast reactors.