Advanced Materials for Future Nuclear Plants.pdf

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY U. S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Advanced Materials for Future Nuclear Plants Steven J. Zinkle Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN Fission Energy Workshop: Opportunities for Fundamental Research and Breakthrough in Fission Global Climate Energy Project Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, November 29-30, 2007 OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY U. S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Outline ? Brief history of nuclear power ? Effects of neutron bombardment on structural materials ? “Five scourges” of radiation ? Prospects for development of high-performance radiation-resistant materials ? Crucial role of nanoscale architectures Note: focus will be on metallic alloys; ceramic composites will be discussed in the talk by Akira Kohyama OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY U. S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY The Launching of Nuclear Energy Largely Preceded the Development of Modern Materials Science 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 CP-1 Graphite EBR-I Shippingport Development of Mat. Sci. as an academic disciplineDevelopment of Fracture mechanics reactor TMI Kyotoprotocol 1 Gflops achieved; high performance computing centers established 1 Tflops 1 Pflops ?Fusion and Gen IV fission energy systems should take maximum advantage of current and emerging materials and computational science tools Radiation Damage can Produce Large Changes in Structural Materials ? Radiation hardening and embrittlement (0.4 TM, 0.1 dpa) ? Phase instabilities from radiation-induced precipitation (0.3-0.6 TM, 10 dpa) ? Irradiation creep (0.45 TM, 10 dpa) ? Volumetric swelling from void formation (0.3-0.6 TM, 10 dpa) ? High temperature He embrittlement (0.5 TM, 10 dpa) 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 USJF82Hss2 E n g i n e e r i n g S t r e s s , M P a Engineering Strain, mm/mm Unirradiated YS 200°C/10 dpa 250°C/3 dpa 300°C/8 dpa 400°C/10 dpa 400°C/34 dpa 500°C/8 dpa 500°C/34 dpa 600°C/ 8 dpa T irr =T test 100 nm 50 nm 100 nmafter