IDAHO FALLS -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) has selected 35 new Rapid Turnaround Experiment (RTE) projects, totaling up to approximately $1.3 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.
NSUF, first established at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), is the nation’s only user facility overseen by the Office of Nuclear Energy. NSUF provides research teams with access to reactor, post-irradiation examination, high-performance computing, and beamline capabilities at a diverse mix of affiliated partner facilities in university, national laboratory and industry institutions across the country at no cost to the user.
NSUF competitively selected the 35 RTE projects from high-quality proposals submitted during the solicitation period. Each proposal was evaluated based on a variety of factors including feasibility, mission relevance, and scientific-technical merit.
RTE project research teams include individuals from two nuclear energy industry, eleven universities, and four national laboratories who will work with the NSUF on their proposed experiments. The newly awarded RTE projects are:
PI Name | Institution | Title | Facility |
Adrien Couet | University of Wisconsin | Characterization of Oxide Layer on the Surface of High Temperature Water Corroded Zircaloy-4 In the Presence of Neutron+Gamma and Gamma Only | Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Low Activation Materials Development and Analysis (LAMDA) |
Adrien Couet | University of Wisconsin | APT and TEM study of redistribution of alloying elements in ZrNb alloys following proton irradiation: effects on in-reactor corrosion kinetics. | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Bei Ye | Argonne National Laboratory | Investigation of irradiation-induced recrystallization in U-Mo fuel | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Ben Maier | University of Wisconsin | Atomic Probe Tomography Studies of Irradiated Cold Spray Coatings for Accident Tolerant Cladding | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Benjamin Jenkins | University of Oxford | Site-specific Atom Probe Tomography Characterisation of Grain Boundaries in Archival Surveillance Steels From Advanced Test Reactor (ATR-2) Neutron Irradiation Experiment | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Cem Topbasi | Electric Power Research Institute | In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of Radiation Damage Effects on the d-Hydride Microstructure in Irradiated Zircaloy-4 | Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Low Activation Materials Development and Analysis (LAMDA) |
Chi Xu | University of Florida | An in-situ TEM characterization of tensile testing of ion irradiated HT-UPS steel at RT and 400°C | Argonne National Laboratory – Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscope Tandem Facility |
PI Name | Institution | Title | Facility |
David Carpenter | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Post-irradiation analysis of hybrid metallic coatings on SiC after neutron irradiation 290-330°C | Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Low Activation Materials Development and Analysis (LAMDA) |
Djamel Kaoumi | North Carolina State University | Ion irradiation response of nanostructured alloys: In-situ TEM observations vs. ex-situ characterization | Argonne National Laboratory – Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscope Tandem Facility |
Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez | Oak Ridge National Laboratory | Changes on viscoelastic behavior, morphology and chemical structure of gamma irradiated calcium silicate hydrates to 1.94 MGy with respect to non-irradiated samples | Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Low Activation Materials Development and Analysis (LAMDA) |
Erik Mader | Electric Power Research Institute | AsTeROID (follow-on AsTeR (Advanced Test Reactor) project to Optimize hydrogen-assisted Irradiation growth and Dimensional stability) | Idaho National Laboratory Materials and Fuels Complex |
Gabriel Meric de Bellefon | University of Wisconsin | The effectiveness of coherent and incoherent twin boundaries in alleviating radiation damage in heavy-ion-irradiated 316L austenitic stainless steels | Argonne National Laboratory – Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscope Tandem Facility |
Elizabeth Getto | United States Naval Academy | Radiation Tolerance of Advanced Joining Techniques for Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Steels under Ion Irradiation | University of Michigan - Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory |
Haiming Wen | Idaho State University | Enhanced irradiation tolerance of high-entropy alloys | University of Wisconsin Tandem Accelerator Ion Beam/ Characterization Laboratory |
Konstantina Lambrinou | SCK•CEN | Study of the factors affecting the radiation tolerance of MAX phases for innovative fuel cladding concepts | University of Michigan - Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory |
Kumar Sridharan | University of Wisconsin | Heavy ion irradiation and ex situ transmission electron microscopy study of the effectiveness of twin boundaries in alleviating radiation damage in 316 austenitic stainless steels | University of Wisconsin Tandem Accelerator Ion Beam/ Characterization Laboratory |
Lin Shao | Texas A&M University | Post-irradiation observation following high-rate self-ion irradiation of previously neutron-irradiated 304 stainless steel | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Mukesh Bachhav | Idaho National Laboratory | Microstructure and microchemical characterization of neutron and proton irradiated Alloy D9 using APT and TEM | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Mukesh Bachhav | Idaho National Laboratory | Effect of Phosphorous (P) on precipitation and segregation behavior in neutron irradiated Reactor Pressure Vessel steels in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR-2): An Atom Probe study. | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Nathan Almirall | University of California - Santa Barbara | Atom Probe Tomography Investigations of nm-Scale Precipitates in Advanced Reactor Pressure Vessel Super Clean Steels in the UCSB Advanced Test Reactor (ATR-2) Neutron Irradiation Experiment | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Niels Cautaerts | SCK•CEN | Hardness profiling of ion irradiated 15-15Ti cladding steel using CSM nano-indentation | University of California–Berkeley |
PI Name | Institution | Title | Facility |
Philip Edmondson | Oak Ridge National Laboratory | In situ amorphization studies of forsterite, diopside and quartz under ion irradiation | Argonne National Laboratory – Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscope Tandem Facility |
Riley Parrish | University of Florida | Microstructural characterization of 13% burn-up MOX fuel | Idaho National Laboratory Materials and Fuels Complex |
Riley Parrish | University of Florida | Microstructural characterization of 21% burn-up MOX fuel | Idaho National Laboratory Materials and Fuels Complex |
Rodney Ewing | Stanford University | Radiation tolerance of Mn+1AXn phase nuclear fuel cladding materials | Argonne National Laboratory – Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscope Tandem Facility |
Sebastien Teysseyre | Idaho National Laboratory | Characterization of Grain Boundary Damage in Highly Irradiated Specimens Exposed to Irradiation Assisted Stress Corrosion Cracking. | University of California–Berkeley |
Sebastien Teysseyre | Idaho National Laboratory | Characterization of the Stability of the Microstructure of Novel ODS Alloys | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Steven Zinkle | University of Tennessee | Irradiation responses of ultrastrong nano precipitation martensite steel | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Tianyi Chen | Oak Ridge National Laboratory | Radiation-Hardening and Microstructural Stability of NF709 Austenitic Stainless Steel | Center for Advanced Energy Studies Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
Todd Allen | University of Wisconsin | Examining microstructural differences in irradiated HT9, correlated with differences in processing prior to irradiation | Idaho National Laboratory Materials and Fuels Complex |
Todd Allen | University of Wisconsin | IVEM investigation of defect evolution in FCC and BCC HEAs during heavy ion irradiation | Argonne National Laboratory – Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscope Tandem Facility |
Weiying Chen | Argonne National Laboratory | Fundamental Study of Alloying Complexity Effects on the Irradiation Process in High Entropy Alloys | Argonne National Laboratory – Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscope Tandem Facility |
Yong Yang | University of Florida | Characterize the Irradiated Microstructure and Understand the Fission Product Behavior in an Irradiated and Safety Tested AGR-1 TRISO Fuel Particle New Proposal | Idaho National Laboratory & Center for Advanced Energy Studies |
Yuanyuan Zhu | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | Microstructural Examination of Neutron Irradiated Al-HfAl3 Metal Matrix Composite Materials for Application to Neutron Spectrum Modification in Nuclear Reactors | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory |
Zheng Zhang | University of Florida | Pore size distribution in U-Mo fuel irradiated to low burnup | Idaho National Laboratory Materials and Fuels Complex |
NSUF holds RTEs calls three times per year. The call offers any interested researcher from a university, national laboratory or industry the opportunity to perform a limited scope of examinations at one facility. The next call for solicitations is scheduled to close October 12, 2017.
For user guides and more information about submitting proposals, visit the NSUF website, http://nsuf.inl.gov.
INL is a DOE multi-program national laboratory, and performs work in each of DOE's strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and environment. INL is the nation's leading center for nuclear energy research and development. Day-to-day management and operation of the laboratory is the responsibility of Battelle Energy Alliance.
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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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