Todd Allen

Molten Salt Heat Transport Loop: Materials Corrosion and Heat Transfer Phenomena

An experimental system for corrosion testing of candidate materials in molten FLiNaK salt at 850 degree C has been designed and constructed. While molten FLiNaK salt was the focus of this study, the system can be utilized for evaluation of materials in other molten salts that may be of interest in the future. Using this system, the corrosion performance of a number of code-certified alloys of interest to NGNP as well as the efficacy of Ni-electroplating have been investigated. The mechanisums underlying corrosion processes have been elucidated using scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the materials after the corrosion tests, as well as by the post-corrosion analysis of the salts using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and neutron activation analysis (NAA) techniques.

Nuclear Energy Innovation Workshops. Executive Summary

The nuclear energy innovation workshops were organized and conducted by INL on March 2-4, 2015 at the five NUC universities and Boise State University. The output from these workshops is summarized with particular attention to final summaries that were provided by technical leads at each of the workshops. The current revision includes 3-4 punctuation corrections and a correction of the month of release from May to June.

Freeze-casting as a Novel Manufacturing Process for Fast Reactor Fuels. Final Report

Advanced burner reactors are designed to reduce the amount of long-lived radioactive isotopes that need to be disposed of as waste. The input feedstock for creating advanced fuel forms comes from either recycle of used light water reactor fuel or recycle of fuel from a fast burner reactor. Fuel for burner reactors requires novel fuel types based on new materials and designs that can achieve higher performance requirements (higher burn up, higher power, and greater margins to fuel melting) then yet achieved. One promising strategy to improved fuel performance is the manufacture of metal or ceramic scaffolds which are designed to allow for a well-defined placement of the fuel into the host, and this in a manner that permits greater control than that possible in the production of typical CERMET fuels.

Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility 2010 Annual Report

This is the 2010 ATR National Scientific User Facility Annual Report. This report provides an overview of the program for 2010, along with individual project reports from each of the university principal investigators. The report also describes the capabilities offered to university researchers here at INL and at the ATR NSUF partner facilities.

Emissivity of Candidate Materials for VHTR Applicationbs: Role of Oxidation and Surface Modification Treatments

The Generation IV (GEN IV) Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative was instituted by the Department of Energy (DOE) with the goal of researching and developing technologies and materials necessary for various types of future reactors. These GEN IV reactors will employ advanced fuel cycles, passive safety systems, and other innovative systems, leading to significant differences between these future reactors and current water-cooled reactors. The leading candidate for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) to be built at Idaho National Lab (INL) in the United States is the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR). Due to the high operating temperatures of the VHTR, the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) will partially rely on heat transfer by radiation for cooling. Heat expulsion by radiation will become all the more important during high temperature excursions during off-normal accident scenarios. Radiant power is dictated by emissivity, a material property. The NGNP Materials Research and Development Program Plan [1] has identified emissivity and the effects of high temperature oxide formation on emissivity as an area of research towards the development of the VHTR.

ATR National Scientific User Facility 2009 Annual Report

This report describes activities of the ATR NSUF from FY-2008 through FY-2009 and includes information on partner facilities, calls for proposals, users week and education programs. The report also contains project information on university research projects that were awarded by ATR NSUF in the fiscal years 2008 & 2009. This research is university-proposed researcher under a user facility agreement. All intellectual property from these experiments belongs to the university per the user agreement.

Surface Modification of Fuel Cladding Materials with Integral Fuel BUrnable Absorber Boron

Integral fuel burnable absorgers (IFBA) are added to some rods in the fuel assembly to counteract excessive reactivity. These IFBA elements (usually boron or gadolinium) are presently incorporated in the U)2 pellets either by mixing in the pellets or as coatings on the pellet surface. In either case, the incorporation of ifba into the fuel has to be performed in a nuclear-regulated facility that is physically separated from the main plant. These operations tend to be costly and can add from 20 to 30% to the manufacturing cost of the fuel. The goal of this NEER research project was to develop an alternative approach that involves incorporation of IFBA element boron at the surface of the fuel cladding material.