FY 2017 Integrated Research Projects Awards
The Department is awarding $11 million for 3 Integrated Research Projects (IRPs), which comprise a significant element of DOE’s innovative nuclear research objectives and represent the NE strategy to provide R&D solutions most directly relevant to the near-term, significant needs of the NE R&D programs.
IRP award recipients are listed below.
|
Title |
Lead University
|
Funding Amount* |
Project Description |
Advancements towards ASME nuclear code case for compact heat exchangers | University of Wisconsin-Madison | $4,999,907 | Researchers will advance the technical state of compact heat exchangers and lay the foundation to get these types of heat exchangers certified for use in nuclear service. The team will advance the understanding of the performance, integrity and lifetime of the CHXs for use in any industrial application. This will be done by developing qualification and inspection procedures that utilize non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and advanced in-service inspection techniques, with insight from EPRI. |
Development of a Mechanistic Hydride Behavior Model for Spent Fuel Cladding Storage and Transportation | Pennsylvania State University | $3,000,000 | Researchers will develop a macroscale modeling capability that can assess the impact of hydride behavior on cladding integrity in commercial spent nuclear fuel during pool storage, drying, transportation, and long-term dry cask storage. To develop this capability, the team will investigate both experimentally and with computational modeling the hydride behavior relative to three critical phenomena in various zirconium alloy cladding materials: 1) Migration and redistribution of hydrogen; 2) Precipitation and dissolution of hydride particles; 3) The impact of hydride microstructure on mechanical properties of the cladding. |
NuSTEM: Nuclear Science, Technology and Education for Molten Salt Reactors | Texas A&M University
| $3,000,000 | Researchers will Contribute to the molten salt fast reactor concept while educating new workforce in molten salt systems. The project will focus in five technical areas: 1) Material and corrosion science; 2) Optical/chemical sensor development; 3) Modeling, multiphysics simulation, and uncertainty quantification; 4) Thermal hydraulic science; 5) 35cl(n,p) cross-section measurements. |
|
Total |
$10,999,907 | |
