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Title: Scientific Basis For Ultra-High Burn-Up Nuclear Fuels

Abstract

A key issue on the path to nuclear energy becoming an essential component of the U.S. clean energy strategy is complete burn of the nuclear fuel. We propose research that will enable high-burn-up fuels by establishing the basic science for development and qualification of advanced nuclear fuel that will couple modern computational materials modeling, fabrication, and characterization capabilities with targeted performance-testing experiments using ion-beam facilities. This work will establish the scientific foundation and guide selection of the optimum fuel type for advanced reactor concepts. We expect to experimentally quantify the phase stability and kinetics of phase transformations, inter-diffusion, microstructural evolution, micromechanical properties, and the influence of severe radiation environments on fuel performance and, by the end of the project, develop a validated model for advanced nuclear energy materials under extreme conditions of radiation, temperature, and evolving chemistry. We will provide a science-based path forward to an optimized inert matrix fuel, while contributing to the development of a validated nuclear fuel database. We expect this project will further establish LLNL’s credibility in the nuclear energy community.

Authors:
 [1]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1178380
Report Number(s):
LLNL-TR-663206
DOE Contract Number:  
AC52-07NA27344
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND RUEL MATERIALS

Citation Formats

Turchi, P. E. A. Scientific Basis For Ultra-High Burn-Up Nuclear Fuels. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.2172/1178380.
Turchi, P. E. A. Scientific Basis For Ultra-High Burn-Up Nuclear Fuels. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1178380
Turchi, P. E. A. 2014. "Scientific Basis For Ultra-High Burn-Up Nuclear Fuels". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1178380. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1178380.
@article{osti_1178380,
title = {Scientific Basis For Ultra-High Burn-Up Nuclear Fuels},
author = {Turchi, P. E. A.},
abstractNote = {A key issue on the path to nuclear energy becoming an essential component of the U.S. clean energy strategy is complete burn of the nuclear fuel. We propose research that will enable high-burn-up fuels by establishing the basic science for development and qualification of advanced nuclear fuel that will couple modern computational materials modeling, fabrication, and characterization capabilities with targeted performance-testing experiments using ion-beam facilities. This work will establish the scientific foundation and guide selection of the optimum fuel type for advanced reactor concepts. We expect to experimentally quantify the phase stability and kinetics of phase transformations, inter-diffusion, microstructural evolution, micromechanical properties, and the influence of severe radiation environments on fuel performance and, by the end of the project, develop a validated model for advanced nuclear energy materials under extreme conditions of radiation, temperature, and evolving chemistry. We will provide a science-based path forward to an optimized inert matrix fuel, while contributing to the development of a validated nuclear fuel database. We expect this project will further establish LLNL’s credibility in the nuclear energy community.},
doi = {10.2172/1178380},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1178380}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Oct 22 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Wed Oct 22 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}