NSUF - Nuclear Science User Facilities

Casey McKinney

Profile Information
Name
Dr. Casey McKinney
Institution
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Position
Postdoctoral Research Associate
h-Index
ORCID
0000-0003-3538-3614
Expertise
EBSD, EDS, Microscopy, Nuclear Materials
Publications:
"Characterization of solid fission products in 13.7% FIMA MOX fuel using electron microscopy techniques" Riley Parrish, Karen Wright, Alexander Winston, Jason Harp, Casey McKinney, Assel Aitkaliyeva, Journal of Nuclear Materials Vol. 524 2019 67-79 Link
This work utilizes electron microscopy-based techniques to examine the radial behavior of solid fission products in plutonium (Pu) bearing mixed oxide (MOX) fuel irradiated to a burnup of 13.7% fissions per initial metal atom (FIMA). Metallic precipitates primarily consist of five fission products: ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), technetium (Tc), molybdenum (Mo), and palladium (Pd). The five metal precipitates (FMPs) examined in this work have low concentrations of Pd and Mo, with no major compositional differences along the fuel radius. A secondary Pd–Te metallic phase forms in cooler regions of the pellet, likely due to the diffusion of gaseous species away from the central void. X-ray chemical maps indicate that the Pd–Te phase can nucleate on the surface of FMPs before precipitating into separate particles. These particles were also found to alloy with iron (Fe) near the surface of the fuel pellet due to interdiffusion with the stainless-steel cladding. The insoluble perovskite oxide phase was found to form near the central void and at intermediate radial positions, but not at the fuel edge. These findings suggest that solid fission product phases form at varying counts and compositions along the fuel pellet radius, and thus should be considered when describing the thermal behavior of the fuel.
Presentations:
"Three-Dimensional Microstructural Characterization of the Peripheral Region in FBR MOX Fuel" Riley Parrish, Assel Aitkaliyeva, Casey McKinney, Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES) October 6-10, (2019) Link
NSUF Articles:
DOE Awards 33 Rapid Turnaround Experiment Research Proposals - Projects total approximately $1.5 million These projects will continue to advance the understanding of irradiation effects in nuclear fuels and materials in support of the mission of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy. Monday, May 14, 2018 - Calls and Awards
RTE 1st Call Awards Announced - Projects total approximately $1.4 million These projects will continue to advance the understanding of irradiation effects in nuclear fuels and materials in support of the mission of the DOE-NE. Friday, February 8, 2019 - Calls and Awards
DOE Awards 31 RTE Proposals, Opens FY-20 1st Call - Projects total $1.1 million; Next proposals due 10/31 Awards will go to 22 principal investigators from universities, six from national laboratories, and three from foreign universities. Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - Calls and Awards, Announcement
NSUF Research Helps Support Student Researchers - Leading and assisting on NSUF projects, students can get hands on experience The opportunities for student-led research are nearly endless Friday, January 24, 2020 - Newsletter
Department of Energy Nuclear Science User Facilities Awards 29 Rapid Turnaround Experiment Proposals - Awarded projects total nearly $1.14M in access awards Tuesday, June 8, 2021 - News Release, Calls and Awards
NSUF awards 30 Rapid Turnaround Experiment proposals - Approximately $1.53M has been awarded. Tuesday, June 14, 2022 - Calls and Awards
Additional Publications:
"Characterization of the radial microstructural evolution in LWR UO2 using electron backscatter diffraction" Rachel Seibert, Jesse Werden, Chad Parish, Tyler Gerczak, Jason Harp, Nathan Capps, Casey McKinney, [2023] Journal of Nuclear Materials · DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2023.154605
"Advanced Multiscale Microscopy Characterization of High Burnup LWR UO2 Before and After LOCA Testing" Chad Parish, Jesse Werden, Tyler Gerczak, Jason Harp, Nathan Capps, Lauryn Reyes, Casey McKinney, [2023] · DOI: 10.2172/2373000
"Identifying chemically similar multiphase nanoprecipitates in compositionally complex non-equilibrium oxides via machine learning" Tyler J. Gerczak, Jason M. Harp, Casey S. McKinney, Timothy G. Lach, Omer Karakoc, Andrew T. Nelson, Kurt A. Terrani, Chad M. Parish, Philip D. Edmondson, Keyou S. Mao, [2022] Communications Materials · DOI: 10.1038/s43246-022-00244-4 · ISSN: 2662-4443
Abstract

Characterizing oxide nuclear fuels is difficult due to complex fission products, which result from time-evolving system chemistry and extreme operating environments. Here, we report a machine learning-enhanced approach that accelerates the characterization of spent nuclear fuels and improves the accuracy of identifying nanophase fission products and bubbles. We apply this approach to commercial, high-burnup, irradiated light-water reactor fuels, demonstrating relationships between fission product precipitates and gases. We also gain understanding of the fission versus decay pathways of precipitates across the radius of a fuel pellet. An algorithm is provided for quantifying the chemical segregation of the fission products with respect to the high-burnup structure, which enhances our ability to process large amounts of microscopy data, including approaching the atomistic-scale. This may provide a faster route for achieving physics-based fuel performance modeling.
"Three-dimensional microstructural characterization of FBR MOX fuel and the contribution of microstructural features to the thermal conductivity of the fuel" Floyd Hilty, Daniel Murray, Narayan Poudel, Fabiola Cappia, Tsvetoslav Pavlov, Assel Aitkaliyeva, Casey McKinney, [2022] Journal of Nuclear Materials · DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.154073
"Advanced Microscopy for Characterization of High Burnup Commercial UO2 Fuel Before and After LOCA Testing" Casey McKinney, Chad Parish, Tyler Gerczak, Jason Harp, Jesse Werden, Nathan Capps, Rachel Seibert, [2022] · DOI: 10.2172/1923962
"A practical guide to characterizing irradiated nuclear fuels using FIB tomography" Charlyne Smith, Grant Helmreich, Tyler Gerczak, Assel Aitkaliyeva, Casey McKinney, [2022] Micron · DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2022.103290 · ISSN: 0968-4328
"Sample Preparation for 3D Characterization of Irradiated Fuel" Tyler Gerczak, Jason Harp, Casey Mckinney, [2020] · DOI: 10.2172/1631238
"Three-dimensional bubble reconstruction in high burnup UO2" Rachel Seibert, Grant Helmreich, Assel Aitkaliyeva, Kurt Terrani, Casey McKinney, [2020] Journal of Nuclear Materials · DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152053 · ISSN: 0022-3115
"Three-dimensional bubble reconstruction in high burnup UO2" Rachel Seibert, Grant Helmreich, Assel Aitkaliyeva, Kurt Terrani, Casey McKinney, [2020] Journal of Nuclear Materials · DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152053 · EID: 2-s2.0-85079327757 · ISSN: 0022-3115
"In search of θ-(Pu,Zr) in binary Pu–Zr: Thermal and microstructural analyses of Pu − 30Zr alloy" Cynthia A. Adkins, Casey McKinney, Jacob Hirschhorn, Michael R. Tonks, Assel Aitkaliyeva, [2020] Journal of Nuclear Materials · DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.151875 · ISSN: 0022-3115
"Characterization of solid fission products in 13.7% FIMA MOX fuel using electron microscopy techniques" Karen E. Wright, Alexander J. Winston, Casey McKinney, Jason M. Harp, Assel Aitkaliyeva, Riley J. Parrish, [2019] Journal of Nuclear Materials · DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.06.042 · ISSN: 0022-3115
"Microstructural characterization of the as-cast and annealed Pu-10Zr alloy" Cynthia A. Adkins, Jacob Hirschhorn, Casey McKinney, Michael R. Tonks, Fidelma Giulia Di Lemma, Assel Aitkaliyeva, [2019] Journal of Nuclear Materials · DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.05.051 · ISSN: 0022-3115
Source: ORCID/CrossRef using DOI

About Us

The Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) is the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy's only designated nuclear energy user facility. Through peer-reviewed proposal processes, the NSUF provides researchers access to neutron, ion, and gamma irradiations, post-irradiation examination and beamline capabilities at Idaho National Laboratory and a diverse mix of university, national laboratory and industry partner institutions.

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