Designation: C 750 – 03

Standard Specification for

Nuclear-Grade Boron Carbide Powder1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation C 750; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

1. Scope E 11 Specification for Wire-Cloth Sieves for Testing Pur-

1.1 This specification defines the chemical and physical poses7
requirements for boron carbide powder intended for a variety E 105 Practice for Probability Sampling of Materials7
of nuclear applications. Because each application has a differ- 2.2 ANSI Standard:
ent need for impurity and boron requirements, three different ANSI/ASME NQA-1 Quality Assurance Program Require-
chemical compositions of powder are specified. In using this ments for Nuclear Facilities8
specification, it is necessary to dictate which type of powder is 2.3 U.S. Government Document:
intended to be used. In general, the intended applications for Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Energy Part 50
the various powder types are as follows: (10CFR 50), Domestic Licensing of Production and Uti-
1.1.1 Type 1—For use as particulate material in nuclear lization Facilities9
reactor core applications. 3. Terminology
1.1.2 Type 2—Powder that will be further processed into a
fabricated shape for use in a nuclear reactor core or used in 3.1 Descriptions of Terms Specific to This Standard—Terms
non-core applications when the powder directly or indirectly shall be defined in accordance with Terminology C 859 except
may cause adverse effects on structural components, such as for the following:
halide stress corrosion of stainless steel. 3.1.1 buyer—organization issuing the purchase order.
1.1.3 Type 3—Powder that will be used for non-core appli- 3.1.2 powder lot—that quantity of boron carbide powder
cations or special in-core applications. blended together such that samples taken in accordance with
the procedures of 8.1 can be considered as representative of the
2. Referenced Documents entire powder lot.
2.1 ASTM Standards: 3.1.3 seller—boron carbide powder supplier.
B 329 Test Method for Apparent Density of Powders of 4. Ordering Information
Refractory Metals and Compounds by the Scott Volume-
ter2 4.1 The buyer may specify the following information on the
C 117 Test Method for Material Finer than 75-µm (No. 200) order:
Sieve in Mineral Aggregates by Washing3 4.1.1 Quantity (weight of delivered product).
C 371 Test Method for Wire-Cloth Sieve Analysis of Non- 4.1.2 Nominal particle size, particle size range, and appli-
plastic Ceramic Powders4 cable tolerance.
C 493 Test Method for Bulk Density and Porosity of Granu- 4.1.3 Density and method of measurement.
lar Refractory Materials by Mercury Displacement5 4.1.4 Angular or spherical shape.
C 791 Test Methods for Chemical, Mass Spectrometric, and 4.1.5 Shape factor.
Spectrochemical Analysis of Nuclear-Grade Boron Car- 4.1.6 Lot size.
bide6 4.1.7 Sampling requirements.
C 859 Terminology Relating to Nuclear Materials6 4.1.8 Powder type (1, 2, or 3).
4.1.9 Isotopic content (10B).

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5. Chemical Composition
This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee C26 on
Nuclear Fuel Cycle and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee C26.03 on NOTE 1—B4C powder is hygroscopic and certain applications require
Neutron Absorber Materials Specifications. low-moisture content.
Current edition approved July 10, 2003. Published August 2003. Originally
approved in 1974. Last previous edition edition approved in 1997 as
C 750 – 89(1997).
2 7
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 02.05. Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 14.02.
3 8
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 04.02. Available from American National Standards Institute, 11 W. 42nd St., 13th
4
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 15.02. Floor, New York, NY 10036.
5 9
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 15.01. Available from Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
6
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 12.01. Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.

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 C 750 – 03
5.1 The material shall conform to the chemical composition the application and for this reason should be specified in the
requirements prescribed in Table 1 (see Methods C 791). purchase order. Recommended Practice E 105 is referenced as
5.2 When agreed upon between the buyer and the seller, the a guide.
weight loss of the powder shall not exceed 1 % when heated at 8.2 Each sample taken shall be sufficient to perform the
110°C for 1 h in air. following in the event they are necessary or desired by the
buyer:
6. Physical Requirements 8.2.1 Quality control tests,
6.1 The nominal particle size, particle size range, and 8.2.2 Acceptance tests,
applicable tolerances shall be agreed upon between the buyer 8.2.3 Referee tests,and
and the seller. Method C 371, Test Method C 117, and Speci- 8.2.4 Retention of archive samples by the seller.
fication E 11 may be applied for particles larger than 37 µm. 8.3 Archive samples shall be retained by the seller for a
For particles smaller than 37 µm, the particle size distribution period of time specified by the buyer and delivered to the buyer
will be determined utilizing a method submitted by the seller upon request.
for approval by the buyer.
6.2 The density shall be determined when specified. The 9. Inspection and Certification
Scott Volumeter (Test Method B 329) or Mercury Displace- 9.1 The seller shall inspect the material covered by this
ment (Test Method C 493) are approved methods. The recom- specification and shall furnish the buyer with certificates of
mended value to be used for the theoretical density of tests showing the results of testing and inspection performed
stoichiometric B4C of natural isotopic content is 2.52 g/cm2. for each powder lot prior to shipment. The seller shall certify
6.3 When specified, the angular or spherical shape shall be that each powder lot is in compliance with the provisions of
determined utilizing a method agreed upon between the buyer this specification.
and the seller.
6.4 When specified, the shape factor shall be determined 10. Rejection
utilizing a method agreed upon between the buyer and the 10.1 Unless the buyer and seller agree otherwise, rejection
seller. and acceptance shall be on a powder lot basis.
10.2 Powder lots that fail to conform to the requirements of
7. Cleanliness
this specification may be rejected by the buyer. The seller may
7.1 The lot shall be handled in a manner that precludes petition the buyer to waive selected requirements for identified
contamination by dust, organics, plastics, or other foreign out-of-specification lots. Decision to grant such waiver belongs
materials. to the buyer. The buyer shall approve, prior to use, any remedy
proposed to bring rejected lots into specification.
8. Sampling
10.3 In the event of disagreement over the results of
8.1 Sampling plans to meet acceptance criteria and inspec- chemical analysis, samples shall be submitted to a mutually
tion and measurement procedures that describe the method of selected referee for resolution.
compliance with this specification shall be established by the
seller and submitted to the buyer for approval. The degree of 11. Packaging and Package Marking
sampling, where not specified in this specification, varies with 11.1 The powder shall be packaged in sealed containers for
shipment from the seller to the buyer. The seller will be
TABLE 1 Chemical Requirements responsible for designing the shipping container to ensure
Composition, Weight %A cleanliness, minimize moisture pickup, provide adequate pro-
Constituent
Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 tection against damage during transportation, and ensure rea-
Total boronB 81.0 max 81.0 max 81.0 max sonable ease of unpackaging.
76.5 min 73.0 min 70.0 min 11.2 Each container shall be clearly marked with the fol-
HNO3-soluble boron 0.5 max 0.6 max not determined
Water soluble boron 0.2 max 0.2 max 1.0 max lowing: boron carbide powder, powder type (1, 2, or 3),
Fluoride 25 µg/g max 25 µg/g max not determined purchase order number, purchase order specification, gross net
Chloride 75 µg/g max 75 µg/g max not determined and tare weights, lot number, and name of seller.
Calcium 0.3 max 0.3 max not determined
Iron 1.0 max 1.0 max 2.0 max
Total boron plus total 98.0 min 97.0 min 94.0 min 12. Quality Assurance
carbon
12.1 Quality assurance requirements shall be agreed upon
A
Unless otherwise indicated (percentages based on a dry weight of boron between the buyer and the seller when specified in the purchase
carbide).
B
Unless otherwise specified, the 10B isotopic content in the boron shall be 19.90 order. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Part 50 (Appen-
6 0.3 atom % for Types 1 and 2 and 19.90 6 0.5 atom % for Type 3. dix B) and NQA-1 are referenced as guides.

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 C 750 – 03
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