About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2027 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Enabling Nuclear Materials Innovation via the Nuclear Science User Facility Capabilities
|
| Presentation Title |
Advanced Characterization of Irradiated UO2 Fuels |
| Author(s) |
Lingfeng He, Sadman Sakib, Cameron Howard, Mario Matos, Rahul Kancharla, Tanner Mauseth, Mukesh Bachhav, Jatuporn Burns, David Frazer, Wei-Ying Chen, Sudipta Biswas |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Lingfeng He |
| Abstract Scope |
Nuclear fuel undergoes significant microstructural and chemical evolution during reactor operation, influencing its performance as well as subsequent storage and disposal. While some fission products remain dissolved in the uranium dioxide (UO₂) matrix, inert gases (Xe and Kr) and 4d transition metals (Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, and Pd) segregate to form nanoprecipitates and gas bubbles. At high burnup, grain subdivision leads to the formation of the high-burnup structure (HBS), characterized by nanograins and redistributed fission products. This work employs plasma focused ion beam-3D electron backscatter diffraction, high-resolution electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and atom probe tomography to characterize grain structures and fission product precipitates. In situ ion irradiation is used to directly observe the dynamic evolution of fission products and HBS over a range of temperatures. In addition, in situ micropillar compression is performed to determine the brittle-to-ductile transition temperature and its relationship to irradiation-induced microstructural evolution. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Characterization, Nuclear Materials, Ceramics |