| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T22: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Ceramics for a New Generation of Nuclear Energy Systems and Applications
|
| Presentation Title |
Microstructural Evolution in Ceramic Nuclear Fuels and their Surrogates under Irradiation |
| Author(s) |
Lingfeng He, Kaustubh Bawane, Pengyuan Xiu, Tiankai Yao, Chao Jiang, Marat Khafizov, Miaomiao Jin, Yi Xie, Lin Shao |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Lingfeng He |
| Abstract Scope |
Oxide nuclear fuels have been widely used in light water reactors (LWRs) and nitride nuclear fuels are proposed as accident tolerant fuels for LWRs or candidates for advanced reactors. In reactor environments, radiation induced microstructure changes in ceramic nuclear fuels can affect their thermal conductivity and mechanical properties. Investigating early-stage microstructural changes is of significance in understanding the performance degradation of ceramic nuclear fuels in reactor environments. In this work, we study the microstructural evolution as a function of temperature and irradiation dose in oxide and nitride nuclear fuels and their surrogates using a combination of in situ/ex situ ion irradiation, advanced characterization, and modeling. The irradiation induced dislocation loops and phase changes are characterized using electron microscopy techniques. Loop density and diameter are analyzed using a kinetic rate theory that considers stoichiometric loop evolution. The energetics of dislocation loop types and phase relationships are studied using multiscale modeling. |