Thermal conductivity is a crucial parameter for nuclear fuel, as it sets an upper limit on reactor operating temperature to have safety margins. Uranium mononitride (UN) is a prospective fuel for fast reactors, for which limited experimental studies have been conducted, compared to the currently dominating light-water reactor fuel, uranium dioxide. The aim of this thesis is to determine the thermal conductivity in UN and to determine its porosity dependence. This was done by manufacturing dense and porous high-purity samples of UN and examining them with laser flash analysis, which with data on specific heat and thermal expansion gives the thermal conductivity. To analyse the result, a theoretical study of the phenomenology of thermal conductivity as well as a review and comparison with previous investigations were carried out. The porosity range was 0.1–31% of theoretical density. Thermal diffusivity data from laser flash analysis, thermal expansion data and specific heat data was collected for 25–1400 C. The laser flash data had high discrepancy at higher temperatures due to thermal instability in the device and deviations due to graphite deposition on the samples, but the low temperature data should be reliable. As the specific heat data was also of poor quality, literature data was used instead. As for the thermal diffusivity data, the calculated thermal conductivity for lower temperatures are more accurate. A modified version of the porosity model by Ondracek and Schulz was used to analyse the porosity dependence of the thermal conductivity, taking into account the different impacts of open and closed porosity. / Värmeledningsförmåga är en avgörande egenskap för kärnbränslen, eftersom det begränsar den maximala drifttemperaturen i reaktorn för att ha säkerhetsmarginaler. Uranmononitrid (UN) är ett framtida bränsle för snabba reaktorer. Jämfört med det dominerande bränslet i lättvattenreaktorer, urandioxid, har endast begränsade experimentella studier gjorts av UN. Målet med detta arbete är att bestämma värmeledningsförmågan i UN och bestämma dess porositetsberoende. Detta gjordes genom att tillverka kompakta och porösa prover av UN och undersöka dem med laserblixtmetoden, vilket tillsammans med värmekapacitet och värmeutvidgning ger värmeledningsförmågan. För att analysera resultatet gjordes en teoretisk studie av värmeledning såväl som en genomgång av och jämförelse med tidigare undersökningar. Provernas porositet sträckte sig från 0.1% till 31% av teoretisk densitet. Värmediffusivitetsdata från laserblixtmetoden, värmeutvidgningsdata och värmekapacitetsdata samlades in för 25–1400 C. Värdena från laserblixtmätningen hade hög diskrepans vid höga temperaturer p.g.a. termisk instabilitet i anordningen och avvikelser p.g.a. grafitavlagring på proverna, men data för låga temperaturer borde vara tillförlitliga. Eftersom resultaten från värmekapacitetsmätningen var av dålig kvalité, användes litteraturdata istället. Som en konsekvens av bristerna i mätningen av värmediffusivitet är presenterade data för värmeledningsförmåga mest exakta för låga temperaturer. En modifierad version av Ondracek-Schulz porositetsmodell användes för att analysera värmeledningsförmågans porositetsberoende genom att ta hänsyn till olika inverkan av öppen och sluten porositet.

Nuclear fuel comes in many forms; oxide fuel is the most commonly used in current reactor systems while metal fuel is a promising fuel type for future reactors due to neutronic performance and increased thermal conductivity. As a key heat transfer parameter, thermal conductivity describes the heat transport properties of a material based upon the density, specific heat, and thermal diffusivity. A material’s ability to transport thermal energy through its structure is a measurable property known as thermal diffusivity; the units for thermal diffusivity are given in area per unit time (e.g., m2/s). Current measurement methods for thermal diffusivity include LASER (or light) Flash Analysis and the hot-wire method. This study examines an approach that combines these previous two methods to characterize the diffusivity of a packed bed of microspheres of depleted uranium (DU) metal, which have a nominal diameter of 250 micrometers. The new apparatus is designated as the Crucible Heater Test Assembly (CHTA), and it induces a radial transient across a packed sample of microspheres then monitors the temperature profile using an array of thermocouples located at different distances from the source of the thermal transient. From the thermocouple data and an accurate time log, the thermal diffusivity of the sample may be calculated. Results indicate that DU microspheres have very low thermal conductivity, relative to solid uranium metal, and rapidly form an oxidation layer. At 500°C, the thermal conductivity of the DU microspheres was 0.431 ± 13% W/m-K compared to approximately 32 W/m-K for solid uranium metal. Characterization of the developed apparatus revealed a method that may be useful for measuring the thermal diffusivity of powders and liquids.