Resilience of uranium mononitride/zirconium carbide composites and uranium-zirconium carbonitride in hot hydrogen for nuclear thermal propulsion

Abstract

Nuclear thermal rockets require fuels capable of withstanding flowing hydrogen propellant up to 3200 K. Presently, there has not been a fuel type that reliably operates at these conditions. A promising candidate anticipated to endure this demanding environment is a ceramic-ceramic composite comprising of uranium mononitride and zirconium carbide. This investigation assesses the behavior and resilience of variations of this composite and its resultant homogenized form (uranium-zirconium carbonitride) under two hot hydrogen conditions (2273 K and 3000 K). The findings revealed that composites that homogenize into UZrCN exhibit superior structural integrity in hydrogen compared to heterogeneous counterparts. Consequently, this study underscores the potential of homogenized uranium-zirconium carbonitride for enhanced performance in nuclear thermal propulsion applications.