AVS 62nd International Symposium & Exhibition
    Thin Film Thursday Sessions
       Session TF+AS+NS+SA-ThM

Invited Paper TF+AS+NS+SA-ThM3
Surface Science in The Wild: Using Synchrotron Radiation and Lab Grown Thin Films to Understand The Behavior Of SiC in Accident Tolerant Nuclear Fuels

Thursday, October 22, 2015, 8:40 am, Room 111

Session: Thin Film: Growth and Characterization, Optical and Synchrotron Characterization I
Presenter: Jeffery Terry, Illinois Institute of Technology
Correspondent: Click to Email
Out in the “real world,” systems are typically much less clean and much more complex than what is seen in the laboratory. This is often the case in the extreme environment of the core of a nuclear reactors. However, complexity often makes it very difficult to understand the dynamics that are occurring in the “real world” systems. Often our understanding can be greatly improved by using measurements on the “real world” system in combination with fundamental surface science measurements on likely components. We have applied these combinations to study the behavior of irradiated accident tolerant nuclear fuels. Development of new accident tolerant nuclear fuels is important because the explosions at Fukushima were the direct result of interactions between water and the Zr cladding on the fuel. The high temperature chemistry of those interactions led to the production of hydrogen gas which eventually ignited. Our research group has looked at potential claddings such as ZrC, ZrN, and SiC. Specifically, we are using synchrotron radiation techniques to collect data on reactor irradiated materials. We compare the results of those measurements with well controlled laboratory grown systems. The data is then provided to modelers to evaluate the performance of reactor components in extreme environments (temperature, neutron flux, chemistry). This talk will focus on the carbides and nitrides that may be used in accident tolerant, TRISO fuel pellets for application in both conventional and advanced nuclear reactors.