NSUF 16-650: Microstructure Analysis of High Dose Neutron Irradiated Microstructures
The promise for developing new, advanced nuclear reactor concepts that significantly improve on commercial nuclear power reactors, and the extension of life of existing light water nuclear reactors rests heavily on understanding how radiation degrades materials that serve as the structural components in reactor cores. In high dose fission reactor concepts, structural materials must survive up to 200 dpa of damage at temperatures in excess of 400°C. A promising solution to the problem is to use ion irradiation that to irradiate materials to very high doses. Challenges to the implementation of ion irradiation as a surrogate for neutron irradiation include rate effects, small irradiation volumes, accounting for transmutation, and the lack of data to establish the equivalence. Addressing these challenges constitutes the main focus of this program. This effort will specifically focus on the full characterization of selected model and commercial alloys irradiated in the BOR-60 reactor to doses of 40 dpa to compare with ion irradiations performed at the University of Michigan and designed to emulate the reactor irradiation. Careful benchmarking of the different microstructural features formed under ion irradiation and neutron irradiation will provide a unique understanding of the evolution of irradiated microstructures as a first step toward tailoring ion irradiations to achieve optimum emulation of the reactor irradiated microstructure for specific neutron spectra. Samples will be shipped to the LAMDA facility where the focused ion beam (FIB) instrument will be used to prepare transmission electron microscopy (TEM) samples that will be fully analyzed using the TEM instrument at LAMDA. In addition, the FIB tool will also be used to initiate the preparation of atom probe tomography samples that will be shipped to the University of Michigan for final preparation and complete APT analysis. The samples are anticipated to be available at ORNL no later than August/September 2016 and the proposed work will take 6 months.
Additional Info
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Abstract | The promise for developing new, advanced nuclear reactor concepts that significantly improve on commercial nuclear power reactors, and the extension of life of existing light water nuclear reactors rests heavily on understanding how radiation degrades materials that serve as the structural components in reactor cores. In high dose fission reactor concepts, structural materials must survive up to 200 dpa of damage at temperatures in excess of 400°C. A promising solution to the problem is to use ion irradiation that to irradiate materials to very high doses. Challenges to the implementation of ion irradiation as a surrogate for neutron irradiation include rate effects, small irradiation volumes, accounting for transmutation, and the lack of data to establish the equivalence. Addressing these challenges constitutes the main focus of this program. This effort will specifically focus on the full characterization of selected model and commercial alloys irradiated in the BOR-60 reactor to doses of 40 dpa to compare with ion irradiations performed at the University of Michigan and designed to emulate the reactor irradiation. Careful benchmarking of the different microstructural features formed under ion irradiation and neutron irradiation will provide a unique understanding of the evolution of irradiated microstructures as a first step toward tailoring ion irradiations to achieve optimum emulation of the reactor irradiated microstructure for specific neutron spectra. Samples will be shipped to the LAMDA facility where the focused ion beam (FIB) instrument will be used to prepare transmission electron microscopy (TEM) samples that will be fully analyzed using the TEM instrument at LAMDA. In addition, the FIB tool will also be used to initiate the preparation of atom probe tomography samples that will be shipped to the University of Michigan for final preparation and complete APT analysis. The samples are anticipated to be available at ORNL no later than August/September 2016 and the proposed work will take 6 months. |
| Award Announced Date | 2016-04-11T00:00:00 |
| Awarded Institution | Center for Advanced Energy Studies |
| Facility | Microscopy and Characterization Suite |
| Facility Tech Lead | Alina Zackrone, Kory Linton, Yaqiao Wu |
| Irradiation Facility | None |
| PI | Emmanuelle Marquis |
| PI Email | [email protected] |
| Project Type | RTE |
| RTE Number | 650 |