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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​FY 2017 Nuclear Science User Facilities Awards

Today, the DOE has selected five university, four national laboratory, and five industry-led projects that will take advantage of NSUF capabilities to investigate important nuclear fuel and material applications. DOE will support 6 of these projects with a total of $2.3 million in research funds, and all 14 of these projects will be supported by over $10 million in facility access costs and expertise for experimental neutron and ion irradiation testing, post-irradiation examination facilities, synchrotron beamline capabilities, and technical assistance for design and analysis of experiments through the NSUF.

A complete list of NSUF projects with their associated abstracts is listed below.​​

 

2017 NSUF Award Abstracts
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Description
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-12527_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstractCFA-17-12527.pdf
17
Boise State UniversityNuclear Science User FacilitiesJoint R&D with NSUF Access$500,000
Researchers will develop and demonstrate an additive manufacturing approach to fabricate nonintrusive and spatially resolved sensors for in-pile thermal conductivity measurement. The team will print thermal conductivity sensors onto fuel components using an aerosol jet printing approach, and study in-pile performance of the printed sensors through irradiation and post-irradiation testing. This research has the potential to establish a new sensor-manufacturing paradigm for the nuclear industry.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-12573_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstractCFA-17-12573.pdf
17
General AtomicsNuclear Science User FacilitiesJoint R&D with NSUF Access$450,575
Researchers will investigate the effects of temperature and thermal gradients on the irradiation performance and stability of joints in silicon carbide (SiC) cladding and endplug geometries. The project will fill a gap in understanding the performance SiC joint performance which will advance the development of accident tolerant fuels.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-13004_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstractCFA-17-13004.pdf
17
Los Alamos National LaboratoryNuclear Science User FacilitiesJoint R&D with NSUF Access$500,000
Researchers will join cladding tubes of 14YWT alloy and a ferritic ODS alloy using capacitor-discharge resistance welding (CDRW), a rapid, solid-state welding (SSW) process with very low heat input. The CDRW process is especially well suited for cladding applications. The project will provide a significant advance in the state of the knowledge for joining of 14YWT and ferritic ODS materials, and will permit their broader use with increased confidence.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-13050_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstract13050.pdf
17
Oak Ridge National LaboratoryNuclear Science User FacilitiesJoint R&D with NSUF Access$390,000
Researchers will identify correlations between microstructures and mechanical properties of neutron-irradiated advanced ferritic-martensitic and austenitic steels through comprehensive experimental post-irradiation examinations, coupled with thermodynamics, kinetics and microstructural hardening modeling of selected samples that are relevant to Light Water Reactors. Results from other ongoing studies and literature data of similar alloys will be collected and compared to complement the correlations.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-13073_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstract-17-13073.pdf
17
University of PittsburghNuclear Science User FacilitiesJoint R&D with NSUF Access$500,000
Researchers will establish the foundation for converging disciplines of multi-functional fiber optic sensors and additive manufacturing for smart part fabrications for nuclear energy applications, especially for in-pile applications. Using advanced laser fabrication techniques, the team will develop both high-temperature stable point sensors and distributed fiber sensors for high spatial resolution measurements in radiation-hardened silica and sapphire fibers.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-13007_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstract13007.pdf
17
AREVANuclear Science User FacilitiesNSUF Access Only$-
To provide irradiation and post-irradiation examination program for four neutron absorber materials. The team will evaluate four pellets of each absorber type irradiated to target doses of 1.3 and 2.7 x 1022 n/cm2. Following neutron irradiation, examinations will focus on pellet integrity using optical microscopy and dimensional measurements to characterize irradiation induced swelling. This scope of work will utilize HFIR and hot cells at ORNL.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-12985_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstractCFA-17-12985.pdf
17
Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.Nuclear Science User FacilitiesNSUF Access Only$-
Researchers will provide experimental data on fuel fragmentation’s role in fuel burnup to make the case for increasing the regulatory burnup limit past 62 Gwd/MTU. The scope of work involves re-irradiation of high burnup fuel at the appropriate power levels in ATR followed by transient testing, both out of reactor and in TREAT.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/2017%20CFA%20Technical%20Abstract%20CFA-17-13088.pdf
17
Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.Nuclear Science User FacilitiesNSUF Access Only$-
Researchers will study why Zircaloy-2 material shows high hydrogen pickup and variability in BWR environments by investigating the correlation between the irradiated Zircaloy-2 oxide layer resistivity and hydrogen pickup. The scope of work will include in-situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements on pre-irradiated channel and water rod samples as well as post-irradiation characterization of the same materials using Transmission Electron Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-12976_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstractCFA-17-12976.pdf
17
Idaho National LaboratoryNuclear Science User FacilitiesNSUF Access Only$-
Researchers will grow the available database of post irradiation data available for annular mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel irradiated in fast spectrum reactors by examining irradiated fuel from the FO-2 irradiation. The data collected in this project would be used to validate models currently being developed at the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) for fuel performance models that seek to simulate MOX fuel behavior and will be implemented in BISON.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-12849_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstract17-12849.pdf
17
Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryNuclear Science User FacilitiesNSUF Access Only$-
Researchers will develop atomic scale data on the phase stability and thermo-mechanical properties of FeCrAl accident tolerant cladding under the combined effects of radiation and elevated temperature. The goal is to ultimately provide materials parameters for the MARMOT code and develop predictive physics-based models for the BISON code.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-13211_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFAAbstract13211.pdf
17
University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignNuclear Science User FacilitiesNSUF Access Only$-
Researchers will quantitatively measure sub-5nm defect structures, particularly tiny vacancy clusters, which are inaccessible using any other microstructural analysis techniques. The project will use North Carolina State University’s PALS and DBS systems to study nano-scale defect structures in ATR neutron irradiated ferritic and ferritic/martenistic alloys.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-12853_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstract12853.pdf
17
University of Tennessee at KnoxvilleNuclear Science User FacilitiesNSUF Access Only$-
Researchers will develop high-performance simulation tools to predict fission gas bubble evolution in nuclear fuel. The scope of work in this project includes access to 10 Million CPU hours of high performance computing (HPC) resources each year for 2 years.
  
https://neup.inl.gov/SiteAssets/FY%202017%20Abstracts/CFA-17-13106_TechnicalAbstract_2017CFATechnicalAbstract12317.pdf
17
Westinghouse Electric CompanyNuclear Science User FacilitiesNSUF Access Only$-
Researchers will collect post irradiation examination data for additive manufactured zironium-2 materials for LWR fuel applications. The scope of work includes PIE of a previously irradiated zirconium material that was fabricated using laser powder bed fusion. The sample was irradiated at MIT’s reactor and PIE will be conducted at Westinghouse’s Churchill hotcell facility.


*Actual project funding will be established during the award negotiation phase.​