The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy awarded 19 Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) Rapid Turnaround Experiment (RTE) projects Sept. 23. The 2024 third call RTE awards, totaling approximately $1 million, were granted to 19 principal investigators from different institutions including universities and industry. Each project supports the advancement of nuclear energy.
These RTE projects aim to enhance the understanding of material behavior under irradiation, which is crucial for the development of more resilient materials for nuclear applications. Research topics covered in this call include irradiation effects on high entropy carbide ceramics, multi-principal element alloys, zirconium alloys, reactor pressure vessel steels, steel cladding, ceramic-based wasteforms and structural characterization of irradiated metallic fuels.
2024 third call RTE award recipients
| PI Name | Institution | Project Title |
| Robert Aughterson | Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation | Natural zirconolites and pyrochlores as test cases for wasteform matrices |
| Rijul Chauhan | Texas A&M University | High-throughput ion irradiation approach for temperature-dependent swelling measurement in additively manufactured 316L alloy |
| Caleb Clement | Westinghouse Electric Company | Unveiling long-term irradiation and thermal aging effects on solute segregation in commercial reactor pressure boundary material |
| Kenneth Cooper | Texas A&M University | Comparative analysis of Hastelloy X and 316L stainless steel under simultaneous irradiation and corrosion for advanced reactor applications |
| Jake Fay | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Nano indentation hardness of U10Zr |
| Lucia Rebeca Gomez Hurtado | North Carolina State University | In situ TEM study of microstructural evolution and deformation in FFTF irradiated HT-9 cladding |
| Zhihan Hu | Texas A&M University | Formation and dissolution of carbides and precipitates in self-ion irradiated HT9 alloy, and the impact on its mechanical properties |
| Djamel Kaoumi | North Carolina State University | Probing the effect of specific chemical elements on the irradiation-induced defects formation and evolution in multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) at high temperatures |
| Elizabeth Kautz | North Carolina State University | Visualizing the impact of irradiation damage on alloy element redistribution accompanying Zr alloy corrosion via atom probe tomography |
| Xingyu Liu | Pennsylvania State University | Investigating effect of dose rate on microstructure evolution in 800H alloy at high doses |
| Junliang Liu | University of Wisconsin-Madison | In situ TEM study of irradiation effects in zirconium oxides |
| Korukonda Murty | North Carolina State University | Mechanical and microstructural characterization of neutron irradiated ultra-fine-grained and conventional ferritic steel |
| Bao-Phong Nguyen | University of Florida | In situ TEM nanomechanical testing of neutron irradiated U-10Zr |
| Jeffrey Poehler | Nuclear Regulatory Commission | Microstructural characterization of pressurized water reactor harvested core barrel weld materials |
| Allison Probert | University of Florida | Irradiation effects on thermal conductivity and phase evolution in low burnup U-10Pu-10Zr |
| Caleb Schenck | North Carolina State University | Investigating ion irradiation at high temperatures on high entropy carbide ceramics using correlative positron annihilation spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy |
| Mary Sevart | University of Florida | Quantification of radial constituent redistribution in annular U-10Zr irradiated fuel using EPMA |
| James Stubbins | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | TEM determination of dislocation structure formation at 4% tensile deformation in a neutron irradiated Fe-9Cr model alloy |
| Peng Wang | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | Nanostructural analysis of cold-sprayed Cr-coated Zircaloy-4 under proton irradiation and corrosion |
NSUF competitively selected these projects from a pool of quality submitted RTE proposals. The proposals were evaluated on a variety of factors including technical approach, mission relevance and scientific-technical merit. NSUF recipients do not receive direct financial awards. Instead, recipients are awarded access to state-of-the-art capabilities such as experimental irradiation testing, post-irradiation examination, beamline and Idaho National Laboratory high performance computing. Technical assistance for the design and execution of projects is provided at no cost to the recipients.
Prospective researchers are encouraged to request samples from the Nuclear Fuels and Materials Library. NSUF gives special consideration to principal investigators from minority-serving institutions. NSUF, managed by Idaho National Laboratory, provides unparalleled opportunities for nuclear energy researchers. NSUF technical leads at the partner facilities can provide awarded researchers with the expertise necessary to understand and interpret the experimental data from their RTE. The combination of experiments and technical expertise offered in the NSUF RTE are designed to advance the understanding of irradiation effects in nuclear fuels and materials in support of DOE-NE’s mission.
The next RTE will open Oct. 1 and close Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. MT. Click here to find current and past awards. Learn more about NSUF awards and resources at https://nsuf.inl.gov.