Accession Number:

AD0625586

Title:

THE EFFECT OF SIMULATED FISSION PRODUCTS IN THE INTER-ELECTRODE SPACING OF A THERMIONIC DIODE.

Descriptive Note:

Annual rept. no. 1, 1 Nov 64-1 Nov 65,

Corporate Author:

ARIZONA UNIV TUCSON ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION

Personal Author(s):

• Davis,Monte V.
• Backus,C. E.
• Britt,E. J.
• Turner,D. M.

Report Date:

1965-12-17

Pagination or Media Count:

23.0

Abstract:

The nuclear heating of in-core thermionic diodes to directly convert heat to electricity allows a compact, high-powered, long-lived system design. There are, however, some unanswered problems, one of which is the effect of admitting fission products into the interelectrode spaces of the system. This could happen in the case of a cladding rupture or by the impurities diffusing through the fuel from the hotter center to the surface of the fueled emitter. The effects of the fission products on the diode operation are considered. The materials representing fission products are individually introduced into the operating diode and the results compared to the theoretically determined model. The research has covered the effects of the noble gases argon, xenon, and krypton and of iodine on the operation of a planar thermionic diode. The effects of high temperature on the insulating properties of ceramic materials have been examined to delineate the problems of electrical breakdown that may occur in high powered thermionic reactor systems and to define safe areas of system temperature and voltages.

Descriptors:

• *FISSION PRODUCT POISONING
• DIODES
• ELECTRODES
• FISSION PRODUCTS
• IODINE
• RARE GASES
• ARGON
• XENON
• KRYPTON
• ELECTRONS
• CONFIGURATIONS

Subject Categories:

• Electric Power Production and Distribution
• Fission Reactor Physics
• Fission Reactor Materials

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE