About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T25: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Metallic Nuclear Fuel Design, Fabrication and Characterization
|
| Presentation Title |
Advanced Characterization of Pu Oxidation with S/TEM |
| Author(s) |
Douglas Smith, Matthew Janish, Sarah Hernandez |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Douglas Smith |
| Abstract Scope |
Despite its use in mixed oxide fuels (MOX) – since the 1960s – and recent interests in metallic fuels, relatively little research has been carried out on the oxidation of plutonium using modern electron microscopy techniques. To understand differences in the oxidation of pure and alloyed plutonium, the metal/oxide interfaces of a range of samples have been characterized with a Scios 2 dual-beam focused ion beam (FIB) microscope and a probe-corrected Themis G3 80-300 scanning transmission electron microscope (S/TEM). Observations of the samples include phase identification and compositional mapping along the metal/oxide interfaces in addition to calculation of the inelastic mean free path of 300 keV electrons in plutonium and a discussion of the methods employed to mitigate hydriding during TEM liftout preparation. These results are discussed in terms of the bulk sample preparation techniques and storage conditions affecting plutonium microstructures and oxidation. |