科技翻译作业1：NuclearMaterials.docVIP

Nuclear Materials 1 Fuels 1.1 Uranium Uranium in one form or another is by far the most common fuel materials for nuclear reactors. (By comparison, the use of thorium and plutonium has so far been on a very small scale.) It can be used either as pure uranium, a metal, or as compound such as uranium dioxide UO2 or uranium carbide UC. ·核原料 ·1 燃料 ·1.1 铀 目前，各式各样的铀物质是核反应堆里最常用的燃料。（相比之下，钍和钚的使用就少得多了）。铀的使用形式既可以是单质铀，金属铀，也可以是诸如二氧化铀（UO2）或碳化铀（UC）之类的化合物 Uranium is a rather soft and ductile metal which oxidizes readily in air and water at high temperature. Its melting point is 1133oC. It exists in one of three allotropic forms, depending on its temperature. These three different forms are called the alpha, beta and gamma phases, and changes from one phase to another due to temperature changes are accompanied by density changes. Alpha phase uranium has a density of 19g/cm3 and a thermal conductivity which varies from 25W/mK at 25oC to 42W/mK at 665oC. The transition from alpha to the beta phase takes place at 665oC and is accompanied by dimensional changes in crystalline structure of the uranium, expansion along one axis and contraction along the others. To avoid distortion due to these anisotropic dimensional changes 665oC is considered to be the maximum operating temperature of uranium. 铀是一种质地柔软坚韧的金属物质，熔点为1133oC，在高温条件下，它极易被水和空气氧化。随着温度的不同，铀可以形成三种同素异形体，这其中只有一种含有铀物质。这三种不同的形态分别叫做阿尔法阶段，贝塔阶段和伽马阶段。随着温度的不同，这三种阶段相互转化，因为温度的改变会导致其密度的改变。处于阿尔法阶段的铀密度为19g/cm3 ，热导系数在25 oC 条件下的25W/mK和665 oC条件下的42W/mK区间内波动。 当温度达到665oC时，阿尔法阶段就会向贝塔阶段转化，在此过程中铀晶体会产生变形，它会沿着某一条轴线膨胀，同时又沿着其余的轴线缩小。为了避免互异的尺寸变化会导致其变形，665oC被普遍认为是铀的最大操作温度。 Metallic uranium is also very susceptible to radiation damage which produces dimensional changes and swelling above about 450oC. Consequently high burnups of metallic uranium fuel are not possible. In the British gascooled Magnox Reactors, which are the principal users of this type fuel, the burnup is limited to about 3500MWd/t. 金属铀极易受到辐射影响，在温度为450oC左右的条件下，它还会产生变形和膨胀。因此，高度燃耗金属铀燃料是不可能做到的。