NSUF 14-472: Microstructure Evolution in Ion Irradiated UO2.

Understanding irradiation damage evolution in UO2 is crucial to the fleet of current and future nuclear power plants operating globally. Insofar as all of the phenomena caused by radiation damage originate from point defects, the elucidation of radiation effects on the atomic scale is crucial. However, it is difficult because the irradiation defects are aperiodic. This lack of periodicity renders standard approaches, such as TEM and XRD and techniques that are sensitive to short range order are required. X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) measures the population-weighted local structure and chemical speciation of the examined elements making it perhaps the most incisive method for determining the local range order in irradiated materials. Transmission Electron Microscopy measurements are crucial to relating the short range changes observed using EXAFS to the long range complicated microstructures created via irradiation. Understanding defects at various length is necessary to predict fuel degradation under reactor conditions.

Additional Info

Field	Value
Abstract	Understanding irradiation damage evolution in UO2 is crucial to the fleet of current and future nuclear power plants operating globally. Insofar as all of the phenomena caused by radiation damage originate from point defects, the elucidation of radiation effects on the atomic scale is crucial. However, it is difficult because the irradiation defects are aperiodic. This lack of periodicity renders standard approaches, such as TEM and XRD and techniques that are sensitive to short range order are required. X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) measures the population-weighted local structure and chemical speciation of the examined elements making it perhaps the most incisive method for determining the local range order in irradiated materials. Transmission Electron Microscopy measurements are crucial to relating the short range changes observed using EXAFS to the long range complicated microstructures created via irradiation. Understanding defects at various length is necessary to predict fuel degradation under reactor conditions.
Award Announced Date	2013-11-22T00:00:00
Awarded Institution	None
Facility	None
Facility Tech Lead	Yaqiao Wu
Irradiation Facility	None
PI	Mahima Gupta
PI Email	[email protected]
Project Type	RTE
RTE Number	472