Physical Property Changes in Plutonium from Accelerated Aging using Pu-238 Enrichment

摘要

We present changes in volume, immersion density, and tensile properties observed from accelerated aged plutonium alloys. Accelerated alloys (or spiked alloys) are plutonium alloys enriched with approximately 7.5 weight percent of the faster-decaying 238Pu to accelerate the aging process by approximately 17 times the rate of unaged weapons-grade plutonium. After sixty equivalent years of aging on spiked alloys, the dilatometry shows the samples at 35DGC have swelled in volume by 0.15 to 0.17 % and now exhibit a near linear volume increase due to helium in-growth. The immersion density of spiked alloys shows a decrease in density, similar normalized volumetric changes (expansion) for spiked alloys. Tensile tests show increasing yield and engineering ultimate strength as spiked alloys are aged.