Reaction Kinetics of Uranium and Deuterium

A uniform and adherent layer of β-UD3 was formed on uranium when uranium reacted with deuterium in the temperature range 175–350°C and pressure range 100–10 270 torr. The rate of reaction was controlled by diffusion of deuterium across this product layer. Reproducible results were obtained only with D2 of very high purity because low-level impurities had a profound effect on the rate of reaction. It was concluded that molecular diffusion with sorption was the predominant method of mass transport, but atomic diffusion may also be occurring. The activation energy for molecular diffusion with Langmuir sorption of D2 on UD3 was determined to be 9.8 ± 0.5 kcal/mole D2. The activation energy for atomic diffusion was determined to be 4.4 ± 0.3 kcal/g-atom of D.