Report on the Incorporation of Post-Irradiation Examination Results of Yttrium Hydride for Advanced Moderator Handbook

S&T Accomplishment Report · Sat Sep 30 04:00:00 EDT 2023

OSTI ID:2448462

Cinbiz, Mahmut Nedim ^[1]; Taylor, Chase N ^[1]; Johnson, Thomas A ^[1]; Charboneau, Joey A ^[1]; Hobbs, Ian M ^[1]; Burns, Jatuporn ^[1]; Middlemas, Scott C ^[1]; Poudel, Narayan ^[1]; Pavlov, Tsvetoslav R ^[1]; Papaioannou, Glen C ^[1]; Hone, Lance A ^[1]; Lazzari Garcia, Rafael Henrique ^[1]; Wilding, Malwina A ^[1]

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1. Idaho National Laboratory

Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Microreactor program (MRP) aims to provide the fundamental data to enable the development of microreactors. As such, material property data of critical materials for microreactor technologies are researched. Because substoichiometric yttrium dihydride (YHx, where x<2) is considered as a potential solid neutron moderator, its material property data has been combined in the Advanced Moderator Material Handbook which includes thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of YHx with the exception of irradiated material’s properties due to limited PIE. To fill the knowledge gap for the irradiated YHx, specimens and irradiation capsules were prepared at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Specimens were irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL’s). post-irradiation examination (PIE) was performed at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC). This report compiles the PIE results of irradiated YHx specimens through fiscal years 2022 and 2023 (FY22-23) . The PIE data will directly be incorporated into the newer version of the Advanced Moderator Material Handbook. The main takeaways include that (i) the geometrical stability and mechanical integrity of YHx was intact with couple exceptions after high-temperature irradiations (600-800°C), (ii) hydrogen content variation due to manufacturing or irradiation in YHx caused visible surface discoloration, that is also related to the microstructural changes, (iii) qualitative comparisons of PIE methods implied that H retention was significantly higher at 600°C as compared to 800°C, (iv) thermal properties included signatures correlated with the H loss or re-gain, (v) importance of manufacturing readiness and initial as-manufactured specimens history was emphasized, (vi) the needs of targeted irradiations focusing on temperature and time parameters and very targeted PIE were specified.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: 58
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 2448462
• Report Number(s): INL/RPT-23-71531-Rev000
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
42 ENGINEERING
hydrogen
hydrogen retention
microreactor
microscopy
neutron irradiation
post-irradiation examination
solid moderator
thermal properties
transportable reactors
yttrium hydride