Silicon As an Effective Carbide Former in (U, Pu) N-Fuel Containing Carbon and Oxygen Impurities

According to the results of a thermodynamic analysis, it has been established that carbon in the (U, Pu)N-fuel can be in a bound state in the form of carbides or be dissolved in the fuel in an unbound form. The (U, Pu)N fuel is a source of carbon, which may lead to corrosion damage to the steel cladding of fuel elements. One of the possible ways to reduce the influence of carbon on the strength characteristics of steel is to block its penetration into the cladding. The binding of free carbon in the fuel by introducing efficient carbide-forming elements into its composition reduces the amount of unbound carbon. This allows suppression of corrosion damage to the steel cladding of the fuel. In this work, special attention is paid to studying the influence of silicon introduced into the composition of unburned fuel and analyzing its impact on the state of oxygen and carbon impurities.