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NSUF awards 19 Rapid Turnaround Experiments

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - RTE

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy awarded 19 Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) Rapid Turnaround Experiment (RTE) projects Sept. 23. The 2024 third call RTE awards, totaling approximately $1 million, were granted to 19 principal investigators from different institutions including universities and industry. Each project supports the advancement of nuclear energy.


These RTE projects aim to enhance the understanding of material behavior under irradiation, which is crucial for the development of more resilient materials for nuclear applications. Research topics covered in this call include irradiation effects on high entropy carbide ceramics, multi-principal element alloys, zirconium alloys, reactor pressure vessel steels, steel cladding, ceramic-based wasteforms and structural characterization of irradiated metallic fuels.  

2024 third call RTE award recipients

PI Name

Institution

Project Title

Robert Aughterson

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation

Natural zirconolites and pyrochlores as test cases for wasteform matrices

Rijul Chauhan

Texas A&M University

High-throughput ion irradiation approach for temperature-dependent swelling measurement in additively manufactured 316L alloy

Caleb Clement

Westinghouse Electric Company

Unveiling long-term irradiation and thermal aging effects on solute segregation in commercial reactor pressure boundary material

Kenneth Cooper

Texas A&M University

Comparative analysis of Hastelloy X and 316L stainless steel under simultaneous irradiation and corrosion for advanced reactor applications

Jake Fay

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Nano indentation hardness of U10Zr

Lucia Rebeca Gomez Hurtado

North Carolina State University

In situ TEM study of microstructural evolution and deformation in FFTF irradiated HT-9 cladding

Zhihan Hu

Texas A&M University

Formation and dissolution of carbides and precipitates in self-ion irradiated HT9 alloy, and the impact on its mechanical properties

Djamel Kaoumi

North Carolina State University

Probing the effect of specific chemical elements on the irradiation-induced defects formation and evolution in multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) at high temperatures

Elizabeth Kautz

North Carolina State University

Visualizing the impact of irradiation damage on alloy element redistribution accompanying Zr alloy corrosion via atom probe tomography

Xingyu Liu

Pennsylvania State University

Investigating effect of dose rate on microstructure evolution in 800H alloy at high doses

Junliang Liu

University of Wisconsin-Madison

In situ TEM study of irradiation effects in zirconium oxides

Korukonda Murty

North Carolina State University

Mechanical and microstructural characterization of neutron irradiated ultra-fine-grained and conventional ferritic steel

Bao-Phong Nguyen

University of Florida

In situ TEM nanomechanical testing of neutron irradiated U-10Zr

Jeffrey Poehler

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Microstructural characterization of pressurized water reactor harvested core barrel weld materials

Allison Probert

University of Florida

Irradiation effects on thermal conductivity and phase evolution in low burnup U-10Pu-10Zr

Caleb Schenck

North Carolina State University

Investigating ion irradiation at high temperatures on high entropy carbide ceramics using correlative positron annihilation spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy

Mary Sevart

University of Florida

Quantification of radial constituent redistribution in annular U-10Zr irradiated fuel using EPMA

James Stubbins

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

TEM determination of dislocation structure formation at 4% tensile deformation in a neutron irradiated Fe-9Cr model alloy

Peng Wang

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Nanostructural analysis of cold-sprayed Cr-coated Zircaloy-4 under proton irradiation and corrosion

 

NSUF competitively selected these projects from a pool of quality submitted RTE proposals. The proposals were evaluated on a variety of factors including technical approach, mission relevance and scientific-technical merit. NSUF recipients do not receive direct financial awards. Instead, recipients are awarded access to state-of-the-art capabilities such as experimental irradiation testing, post-irradiation examination, beamline and Idaho National Laboratory high performance computing. Technical assistance for the design and execution of projects is provided at no cost to the recipients.

Prospective researchers are encouraged to request samples from the Nuclear Fuels and Materials Library. NSUF gives special consideration to principal investigators from minority-serving institutions. NSUF, managed by Idaho National Laboratory, provides unparalleled opportunities for nuclear energy researchers. NSUF technical leads at the partner facilities can provide awarded researchers with the expertise necessary to understand and interpret the experimental data from their RTE. The combination of experiments and technical expertise offered in the NSUF RTE are designed to advance the understanding of irradiation effects in nuclear fuels and materials in support of DOE-NE’s mission.

The next RTE will open Oct. 1 and close Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. MT. Click here to find current and past awards. Learn more about NSUF awards and resources at https://nsuf.inl.gov. 



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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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