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One vacuum induction melted and cast nuclear grade thorium ingot was satisfactorily rolled and formed into a hemispherical shape. Attempts to roll and form two vacuum induction melted and cast alloy grade thorium ingots were not successful. Rolling and forming procedures are described and metallurgical evaluation is reported.
Three separate irradiation experiments were completed with Th and Th-U alloys. In the first experiment, three-rolled plates of Th and Th-5 wt% U alloy irradiated to total atom burnups up to 1.5% at 200 deg C showed no anisotropic growth and decreased in density at a rate of 1% per wt.% burnup. In the second experiment, 15 swaged specimens of Th and of the alloys Th-0.1 wt% U, Th-1.4 wt% U, and Th-5.5 wt% U were irradiated to burnups ranging from 0.3 to 3.6% of all atoms at temperatures in the range of 45 to 200 deg C. Again, no anisotropic growth was observed and densities decreased at rates near 1% per wt.% burnup. A Th-1.4 wt% U alloy specimen with 2.0 wt.% burnup was found to have retained significant room-temperature ductility. In the final experiment, a group of 44 chill-cast specimens of Th alloys containing 10, 15, 20, 25, and 31 wt% U were irradiated to burnups ranging from 0.16 to 10.1% of all atoms. Maximum irradiation temperatures ranged from 260 to over 1000 deg C. Surface roughening occurred in the alloys containing 25 and 31 wt% U. Volume increases at any given temperature for all alloys were linear with increasing burnup. The rate of volume increase for all alloys rose from approximately 1% per wt.% burnup at the lower temperatures to a value of 2.5 at 650 deg C. Thereafter the swelling rate increased somewhat, reaching a value of 6% volume increase per wt.% burnup at 800 deg C. The rates of volume increase under irradiation of Th-U alloys in the entire temperature range studied were significantly less than those reported for the best U-base alloys. It is suggested that the excellent resistance to high- temperature swelling of the cast Th-U alloys resulted from the fact that a dispersion of very thin U particles was obtained. A high probability, therefore, existed for fission recoils to escape from the U particles into the isotropic and less densely packed Th matrix.