CHAPTER VI

    PRESSURE-TEMPERATURE ANALYSIS OF HYDROGEN-URANIUM MIXING REGION


Introduction

        The uranium region and surrounding hydrogen region have no common interface which defines a physical boundary separating fuel and coolant. Although the central fuel region will be predominantly composed of uranium species and the outer coolant region will contain mostly hydrogen species, the fuel and coolant will become hydrodynamically mixed as the light and heavy species flow coaxially. An intermediate hydrogen-uranium mixing region will exist between the fuel and coolant regions. In order to determine the nuclear and plasma characteristics of this mixing region, the pressure and temperature dependent composition of the composite hydrogen-uranium plasma will be calculated. Basic Equations for Hydrogen-Uranium Plasma

        The mixed hydrogen-uranium plasma includes the
          S   H+    -   +   0    1+   2+           2
species 12,      , H_, H+, U0, U , U ,.     ., U12+ ,and

electrons. The relative amounts of hydrogen and uranium will be determined by the pressure, temperature, and flow characteristics of the mixing region. At any location in


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