Length and electrical resistivity changes of neutron irradiated uranium

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The length change of uranium single crystals in the [100], [010], and [001] crystallographic directions was determined during thermal neutron irradiation at temperatures between 5°K and 550°K. The electrical resistivity induced in uranium single crystals during neutron irradiation at temperatures between 4·5K and 20°K was also determined. The recovery of the irradiation-induced electrical resistivity and length changes was correlated with the temperature dependence of the irradiation-induced length changes. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that elongation in the [010] direction and contraction in the [100] direction during thermal neutron irradiation of uranium single crystals are due to the anisotropic condensation of vacancy and interstitial defects in planar clusters. The substantial decrease in magnitude of the length changes on increasing the irradiation temperature from 20°K to 140°K was attributed to the annihilation of interstitials at vacancy defects because of interstitial mobility during irradiation.

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: