| Abstract Scope |
Dislocations and pores are central to the degradation of nuclear materials under extreme environments, including high radiation flux, elevated temperatures, and corrosive media. Understanding their nucleation and evolution is critical for predicting material performance and extending the lifetime of nuclear fuel and structural components. Here, we employ two complementary synchrotron-based X-ray techniques to probe these defects with high spatial and temporal resolution. X-ray computed tomography characterizes the three-dimensional distribution, morphology, and volume fraction of pores in U-Zr fuels, providing quantitative insight into porosity evolution under irradiation. Bragg Coherent Diffractive Imaging resolves individual dislocations and their strain fields in structural alloys during radiolysis-assisted corrosion, enabling direct observation of dislocation dynamics. These results reveal the fundamental mechanisms by which radiation damage accumulates and corrosion progresses at the single-defect level, one dislocation and one pore at a time, establishing the mechanistic basis needed to design radiation-tolerant and corrosion-resistant materials for next-generation nuclear applications. |