Abstract
Aluminum nitride crucibles have been fabricated utilizing an isostatic pressing technigue and subsequent high temperature sintering. These crucibles were pressed from a commercial spray dried powder using calcium carbonate as a sintering additive. The crucibles were exposed at 850 C to various molten chloride salts (eg, NaCl, KC1, and CaCl2) and evaluated for salt release and corrosion of the ceramic crucible. Data are presented which show the effects of the salt exposure to the aluminum nitride microstructure. Additionally, the predicted high temperature exposure of aluminum nitride to plutonium oxide and plutonium metal in a chloride salt medium, as estimated by a Solgasmix computer modeling program, is detailed. Brief overviews of the direct oxide reduction (DOR) and electrorefining (ER) processes for plutonium processing are discussed. Sintering mechanisms applicable for aluminum nitride processing are also presented.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers |
| Pages | 537-544 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Volume | 91 |
| State | Published - 1991 |
| Externally published | Yes |