NSUF Article

NSUF awards Rapid Turnaround Experiments to advance nuclear fuels and materials

Wednesday, December 3, 2025 - RTE

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) program awarded 27 Rapid Turnaround Experiment (RTE) projects today that support the deployment of advanced reactors, fuel cycle development and the continued operation of the nation’s nuclear reactor fleet. RTE awards facilitate the advancement of nuclear science and technology by providing nuclear energy researchers with timely access to irradiation testing, post-irradiation examination and technical expertise provided through the NSUF at no cost to the researchers.  The fiscal year (FY) 2025 second call RTE awards, totaling approximately $1.5 million, were granted to 27 principal investigators from different institutions, including universities, national laboratories and industry. The competitively selected projects encompass a range of nuclear fuels and materials research that will advance next-generation nuclear technologies. Key materials being studied include advanced metallic and ceramic fuels, additively manufactured structural materials, innovative sensors and cladding materials that could be promising candidate materials for use in advanced nuclear reactors. FY 2025 2nd call RTE award recipients   <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="624"> <tbody><tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Principal Investigator </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Institution </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Project Title </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Eda Aydogan </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Pacific Northwest National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Radiation induced changes in oxide particles in 14YWT alloys produced from gas atomization reaction synthesis powders (#25-5420) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Kaustubh Bawane </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Idaho National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Irradiation Effects on Nanolayered Nuclear Fuels (#25-5446) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Sam Bell </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Oak Ridge National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Quantifying Recovery and Recrystallization Kinetics of Irradiated Zircaloy-4 Cladding During Time-at-Temperature Transients (#25-5398) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Calvin Chandler </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> The Ohio State University </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Neutron Irradiation Damage and Transmutation Products in Diffusion-Bonded 316L SS/B4C (#25-5332) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Tzu-Yi Chang </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Idaho National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> In-Situ Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction Study During Tensile Deformation of Neutron Irradiated MA957 ODS Alloy (#25-5409) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Siwei Chen </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> University of Tennessee-Knoxville </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Real-time TEM observation of cavity evolution with helium implantation and nanomechanical loading in Fe and Ni based alloys (#25-5414) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Kenneth Cooper </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Oak Ridge National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> In Situ Characterization of Irradiation-Induced Swelling in 316L Steel Foils Using High Temperature Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (#25-5392) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Nick Crnkovich </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> University of Wisconsin-Madison </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> In-situ dual beam irradiation of BCC-L21 and BCC-B2 alloys for void formation (#25-5316) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Idaho State University </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Isotopic Analysis of AGN-201 Fuel to Support Benchmarking Project (#25-5378) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Sean Fayfar </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Massachusetts Institute of Technology </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Spatial Mapping of Irradiated Metal Hydrides Using Combined X-ray Tomography and Diffraction (#25-5379) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Lin Gao </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> University of Alabama </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Linking Subgrain Lattice Strain to Irradiation Defect Evolution in Additively Manufactured 316H Stainless Steel (#25-5326) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Igor Jovanovic </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> University of Michigan </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Investigation of Anomalously High Ionization Produced by 254 eV Nuclear Recoils in Germanium (#25-5405) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Anshul Kamboj </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Idaho National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Individual and Synergistic Effects of Solutes on Precipitate Phase Selection in Neutron Irradiated RPV Model Alloys (#25-5377) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Adam Koziol </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Oklo Inc. </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Thermal Diffusivity Characterization of Irradiated Plutonium-Bearing Metal Fuel Pin G594 from the EBR-II X521 Experiment (#25-5441) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Denise Adorno Lopes </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Oak Ridge National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Influence of Carbon Stoichiometry and Microstructure on the Irradiation Performance of Uranium Carbide Fuels (#25-5303) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Kathy Lu </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> University of Alabama </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> In situ TEM study of irradiation resistance of C-SiC/ZrC composites (#25-5317) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Stuart Maloy </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Pacific Northwest National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Examining Mechanical Performance of Alloy T91 To High DPA using Nanoindentation (#25-5434) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Casey McKinney </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Oak Ridge National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Investigation of Fission Product Speciation in UN MiniFuel Particles (#25-5338) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Mitchell Mika </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> University of Florida </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Radial Uranium Isotopic Analysis of Irradiated U-19Pu-10Zr Fuel Using FIB-ToF-SIMS (#25-5423) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Diego Muzquiz </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> University of Michigan </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Investigating helium and hydrogen behavior in beryllium carbide at high temperature using in-situ ion irradiations (#25-5315) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Donald Nolting </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> University of Texas-Austin </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Thermal neutron absorption cross-section determination of the xenon-135 metastable state (#25-5447) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Seunghee Oh </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Argonne National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Investigation of Elastic Interactions and Mechanical Behaviors in NF709 Using Coherence Enhanced High Energy Diffraction Microscopy (#25-5313) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Somayeh Pasebani </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Oregon State University </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Effect of ion irradiation and dose rates on 316L oxide-dispersion-strengthened steel additively manufactured by wire-powder laser-directed energy deposition (#25-5356) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Aaron Penders </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Idaho National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Microstructural characterization of structural alloys under combined proton-irradiation and molten salt corrosion (#25-5402) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Nicole Rodriguez Perez </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Purdue University </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Microstructural characterization of U-10wt.%Zr specimens from MFF-2 experiment for FAST experiment benchmarking (#25-5391) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Michael Reichenberger </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> Idaho National Laboratory </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Free Field Characterization of the Neutron RADiography Reactor Dry Tube with Demonstration of Novel Epithermal Dosimetry Materials (#25-5368) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="115" valign="top"> Yong Yang </td> <td width="149" valign="top"> University of Florida </td> <td width="360" valign="top"> Evaluating Irradiation-Induced Degradation of Phase Boundary Strength in Cast Stainless Steels (#25-5388) </td> </tr> </tbody></table> NSUF competitively selected these projects from a pool of high-quality RTE proposal submissions. NSUF researchers do not receive direct financial support. Instead, recipients are awarded access to state-of-the-art capabilities such as experimental irradiation testing, post-irradiation examination, and beamlines. Technical assistance for the design and execution of projects is provided at no cost to the recipients. Access to high-performance computing and data archiving resources can also be included with every project.<a href="https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flinks-1.govdelivery.com%2FCL0%2Fhttps%3A%252F%252Fnsuf.inl.gov%252FHome%252FProjects%2F1%2F0100019ae014301f-970554eb-9cb8-4db8-bd3f-9d8cf7624a85-000000%2Fa5CpPnv4cdzpXkbPtUQ92jxc31WR69ZNInM2eah-qyc%3D434&data=05%7C02%7Cbrenden.heidrich%40inl.gov%7C1aedd62309984900db1008de31ee93ef%7C4cf464b7869a42368da2a98566485554%7C0%7C0%7C639003097923093742%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=c6EiR6hthCWNUOooX%2BXcgRCVQJLcQXhq%2FiozBOaqyqc%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" title="Original URL: https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fnsuf.inl.gov%2FHome%2FProjects/1/0100019ae014301f-970554eb-9cb8-4db8-bd3f-9d8cf7624a85-000000/a5CpPnv4cdzpXkbPtUQ92jxc31WR69ZNInM2eah-qyc=434. Click or tap if you trust this link." style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: 400;">Click here </a>  to find current and past awards. Learn more about NSUF awards and resources at <a href="nsuf.inl.gov" target="_blank">nsuf.inl.gov</a>

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