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FY22_NSUF_Awards

FY 2022 Nuclear Science User Facilities Awards

DOE has selected one industry, one DOE National Laboratory, and two university-led projects that will take advantage of NSUF capabilities to investigate important nuclear fuel and material applications. DOE will support two of these projects with a total of $1.6 million in research funds. All four of these projects will be supported by more than $2.2 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 NSUF.

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

2022 NSUF Award Abstracts

Title	Abstract_Link	FY	Institution	Program	TechArea	Amount	Description
Mechanical response and chemical effects at the fuel-cladding interface of HT-9 and metallic fuel	https://neup.inl.gov/FY22%20Abstracts/CFA-22-26632_TechnicalAbstract_2022CFATechnicalAbstract22-26632.pdf	22	Purdue University	Nuclear Science User Facilities	Joint R&D with NSUF Access	$800,000	The proposed research will perform advanced post-irradiation examination, including microstructural, thermal, and mechanical characterization, on an accelerated in-pile experiment (FAST - Fission Accelerated Steady-state Test) irradiated U-10Zr fuel rodlets clad in HT-9 with and without Zr liners. Experiments will be complemented with lanthanide diffusion modeling. Results from the experiments and computational studies will be integrated into MARMOT/BISON.
Gamma irradiation effects on the mechanical behavior of seismic protective devices	https://neup.inl.gov/FY22%20Abstracts/CFA-22-27129_TechnicalAbstract_2022CFATechnicalAbstract22-27129.pdf	22	University at Buffalo	Nuclear Science User Facilities	Joint R&D with NSUF Access	$800,000	The goal of this project is to investigate the effect of gamma radiation on the mechanical behavior of the seismic protective devices. The project will involve irradiation of these isolators and dampers in the Foss gamma irradiator at INL and performing mechanical testing of the pre-irradiated and post-irradiated specimens in the single-bearing test machine at the University at Buffalo (UB).
Accelerated Irradiation and Evaluation of Ultrastrong and Elastic Glassy Carbon	https://neup.inl.gov/FY22%20Abstracts/CFA-22-26640_TechnicalAbstract_2022CFATechnicalAbstractCFA-22-26640.pdf	22	Idaho National Laboratory	Nuclear Science User Facilities	NSUF Access Only	$-	The proposed project will conduct accelerated irradiation and post-irradiation evaluation of ultra-strong and elastic glassy carbon fabricated through our established advanced manufacturing process based on pressure and/or electrical field assisted sintering at moderate temperatures. The objective is to evaluate the irradiation tolerance of advanced glassy carbon fabricated through accelerated irradiation with high-energy carbon and copper ion beams and investigate irradiation-induced changes.
Integrated Effects of Irradiation and Flibe Salt on Fuel Pebble and Structural Graphites for Molten Salt Reactors	https://neup.inl.gov/FY22%20Abstracts/CFA-22-26646_TechnicalAbstract_2022CFATechnicalAbstract22-26646.pdf	22	Kairos Power	Nuclear Science User Facilities	NSUF Access Only	$-	This project will investigate the irradiation response of the Flibe/fuel pebble carbon matrix and Flibe/structural graphite systems with a focus on salt infiltration and its effect on microstructure for molten salt reactor applications. The objectives are to quantify the irradiation-induced changes in Flibe infiltration behavior and quantify the influence of infiltration under irradiation on microstructure and mechanical properties.

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

NEUP

FY22_NSUF_Awards