Development of dispersion U(Mo)/Al–Si miniplates fabricated at 500 °C with Al 6061 as cladding

Abstract In the frame of U(Mo) dispersion fuel elements qualification, Si additions to Al matrix arose as a promising solution to the unacceptable failures found when pure Al is used. Analysis of as-fabricated fuel plates made with Al–Si matrices demonstrated that good irradiation behavior is correlated with the formation during fabrication of a Si-containing interaction layer around the U(Mo) particles. Thus, the analysis of the influence of fabrication parameters becomes important. Studies on Al–Si dispersion miniplates fabricated in CNEA, Argentina, have been initiated to determine how to obtain the better interaction layer characteristics with the lesser modifications to the fabrication process and the smaller amount of Si in the matrix. In this work results for miniplates made of atomized U–7 wt%Mo particles dispersed in Al–2 wt%Si and Al–4 wt%Si matrices, obtained by mixing pure Al and Si powders, and Al 6061 as cladding are presented. Interaction layer grown during fabrication process (500 °C) consists of Si-containing phases being U(Al, Si) 3 its principal component. Its uniformity is not satisfactory due to the formation of an oxide layer.