Preparation and characterisation of Pu-pyrochlore: [La1−xPux]2 Zr2O7 (x=0–1)

Thermal and X-ray powder diffraction studies were carried out on mixtures of PuO2, ZrO2 and graphite and La2O3, PuO2, ZrO2 and graphite. Pu2Zr2O7, a new cubic phase with pyrochlore structure (a=1.0592 nm), was identified and characterised. The studies also established the existence of a continuous range of solid solution, [La1−xPux]2Zr2O7 with x=0 to 1.