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FY23_NSUF_Awards

FY 2023 Nuclear Science User Facilities Awards

DOE has selected one DOE national laboratory and two university-led projects that will take advantage of NSUF capabilities to investigate important nuclear fuel and material applications. All three of these projects will be supported by more than $6.3 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.

2023 NSUF Awards

Title	Abstract_Link	FY	Institution	Program	TechArea	Amount	Description
Investigation of intergranular cracking of highly irradiated austenitic stainless steels – materials of pressurized water reactors – in ambient conditions	https://neup.inl.gov/FY23%20Abstracts/CFA-23-29009_TechnicalAbstract_2023CFATechnicalAbstractCFA-23-29009.pdf	23	Oak Ridge National Laboratory	Nuclear Science User Facilities	Nuclear Science User Facilities	$0	During several testing campaigns of irradiated materials (past and current), it has been observed that highly irradiated (>10 dpa) austenitic stainless steels can undergo intergranular brittle fracture at ambient conditions. This project is intended to support continued operation of light water reactors via analyzing and mitigating this phenomenon.
Irradiation-Corrosion of Alumina-Forming Austenitic Stainless Steels in Static Lead	https://neup.inl.gov/FY23%20Abstracts/CFA-23-28973_TechnicalAbstract_2023CFATechnicalAbstract23-28973.pdf	23	Purdue University	Nuclear Science User Facilities	Nuclear Science User Facilities	$0	This project will investigate the performance of alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels in coupled extremes of neutron irradiation and static lead. The results of this work will inform the extent of liquid metal embrittlement of this leading candidate material for lead fast reactor designs. A novel irradiation-corrosion capsule for miniature tensile specimens will be utilized, and post-irradiation/corrosion examination will include structural, chemical, and mechanical characterizations.
UN multi-design irradiation campaign: a critical assessment of accelerated burnup and main correlations for mechanistic fuel performance modeling	https://neup.inl.gov/FY23%20Abstracts/CFA-23-28959_Technical%20Abstract%2028959.pdf	23	University of Texas at San Antonio	Nuclear Science User Facilities	Nuclear Science User Facilities	$0	The objective of this project is to produce a robust array of uranium mononitride (UN) irradiated samples to serve post irradiation examination (PIE) and demonstrate the significant performance margins and safety of UN. The proposing team, which is comprised of fuels experts from the academic, national laboratory, and industry sectors, aims to probe the impact of fabrication impurities and fuel density as a function of both temperature and burn-up.

NEUP

FY23_NSUF_Awards