3.5.4, 6.3.17, 3.7.3
Effects of Pile Irradiation on U3Si. M. L. Bleiberg and L. J. Jones. Trans. Met. Soc., Amer. Inst. Mining and Metallurgical Eng., 212, No. 6, 758-764 (1958).
When a uranium-3.8 wt.% silicon alloy is heat-treated to produce the ε-phase intermetallic compound U3Si, and irradiated to a maximum exposure of 0.104 at .% burn-up and at a maximum in-pile temperature of <250 C, there is a marked decrease (~ 3.7%) in d and large increases in hardness (the material becoming very brittle) and electrical resistivity—the normal positive temperature coefficient of which reverts to an abnormal negative coefficient. Corrosion-resistance to water at 650 F (345 C) appears to be unchanged, but cracking is prevalent because of high internal stresses in the material. The microstructure appears to be unchanged, but no X-ray-diffraction lines can be found. The results suggest that a neutron-induced disordering...
