NSUF 19-1691: Thermal Driven Grain Growth and Fission Gas Bubble Coarsening in Nano-grain Sized U3Si2

U3Si2 is an advanced fuel form with enhanced thermal conductivity and higher uranium density compared to UO2. We are proposing to study the grain growth and fission gas bubble coarsening behavior of nano-grain sized U3Si2 under thermal driven conditions. The primary goal is to derive activation energy for grain growth of nano-grain sized U3Si2 and determine the governing mechanism at conditions relevant to light water reactor application. Specifically, TEM lamellas will be prepared from nano-grain sized bulk U3Si2 pellet with and without 84 MeV Xe irradiation to 1% peak atomic concentration. Pure thermal driven grain growth and gas bubble coarsening experiment up to 1300 °C will be studied using a heating holder on FEI Titan with ChemiSTEM capabilities located at IMCL-INL. Derived grain growth activation energy and Xe gas bubble coarsening behavior will serve as critical experimental data to facilitate the development of MARMOT in NEAM program.

Información Adicional

Campo Valor
Awarded Institution Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Embargo End Date 2026-02-27
Facility Tech Lead Alina Montrose
NSUF Call FY 2019 RTE 1st Call
PI Tiankai Yao
Project Member Dr. Lingfeng He, Associate Professor - North Carolina State University (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2763-1462)
Project Member Dr Jie Lian, Professor - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9060-8831)
Project Member Dr. Tiankai Yao, Staff Scientist and Nuclear Facility Engineer - Idaho National Laboratory (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8330-7638)
Project Member Bowen Gong, Teaching Assistant - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0071-5949)
Project Notes Awarded on 02/08/2019
Project Type RTE
RTE Number 1691