NSUF 19-1784: Irradiation and TEM Characterization of induced Defects in a-U and d-UZr2+x Crystals

U-Zr based metallic fuel is an advanced fuel type for fast reactors. However, a lot of properties highly relevant to fuel performance of U-Zr metal fuel remains unclear, such as the irradiation behavior of constituent phases, including α-U and δ-UZr2 and the effect of radiation damage on the thermal conductivity. In this proposal, we will combine ion beam irradiation and detailed transmission electron microscopy to reveal the intrinsic features of the defect being introduced into different U-Zr compounds by ion irradiation. To build a correlation between irradiation damage and thermal conductivity of U-Zr based metal fuel, we will use proton beam to generate a relatively flat and deep damage layers of tens micron deep that allows thermal conductivity measurement based on modulated thermo-reflectance technique. The measurement will be conducted on the samples generated in this RTE but through a support of different program (EFRC-TETI). Obtained results will advance current understanding the correlation between irradiation damage and thermal properties of metal fuel.

Additional Info

Field	Value
Awarded Institution	Idaho National Laboratory
Embargo End Date	2026-02-27
Facility Tech Lead	Alina Montrose, Lin Shao
Irradiation Facilities	Accelerator Laboratory
NSUF Call	FY 2019 RTE 2nd Call
PI	Tiankai Yao
PIE Facilities	Irradiated Materials Characterization Laboratory
Project Member	Dr. Jason Harp, Group Leader - Oak Ridge National Laboratory (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5345-8440)
Project Member	Dr. Lingfeng He, Associate Professor - North Carolina State University (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2763-1462)
Project Member	Dr. Tiankai Yao, Staff Scientist and Nuclear Facility Engineer - Idaho National Laboratory (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8330-7638)
Project Notes	Awarded on 05/14/2019
Project Type	RTE
RTE Number	1784