Boron carbide has high neutron absorption ability, of which the high capture cross section, wide capture spectroscopy, 10 B hot section as much as 10 347-24 cm2, second only to a few elements such as gadolinium samarium cadmium at the same time, compared to the pure element B and Gd B4C low cost, does not produce radioisotope, secondary radiation energy is low, and corrosion resistance, good thermal stability so more and more be favorred in nuclear reactor materials.

Application of boron carbide material in nuclear reactor.

The neutron absorption performance of boron carbide materials mainly depends on the content of boron carbide 10B in nuclear reactors, which is mainly applied in the following ways at present.

(1) Mix boron carbide and graphite powder to make boron-carbon bricks for use outside the reactor to prevent the leakage of radioactive materials;(2) The boron carbide powder is pressed into products at high temperature and used in the reactor center as the reactor control rod to control the reactor reaction rate;(3) The boron carbide powder is pressed into products at high temperature, used for the second layer of reactor protection, as reactor shielding material, absorbing radioactive substances, etc.;(4) The boron carbide powder is sintered into blocks by atmospheric pressure sintering process. The shielding material used for reactor has been used in high temperature gas-cooled reactor and fast breeder reactor in China.