Examination of Early-Stage Helium Retention and Release in Dispersion-Strengthened Tungsten Alloys
Tungsten is the material of choice for plasma-facing components in the divertor region of future nuclear fusion reactors. Exposure to low-energy helium ion irradiation results in microstructural changes as helium is trapped at defects in the tungsten matrix. High-temperature exposure results in the formation of helium bubbles in the subsurface. Dispersion-strengthened tungsten materials are tungsten-based […]
Yttrium Hydride Post-Irradiation Examination Plan
Micro nuclear reactors are expected to use metal hydride moderators to ensure thier compact design for the flexible operational purposes. Department of Energy’s Microreactor program therefore aims to provide infrasture and qualification bed for the development of micro nuclear reactors. Because micro nuclear reactors must be compact to offer a flexible operational purposes, metal hydrides […]
Relevance of Tritium Breeder Irradiation Testing in a Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source
A fusion prototypic neutron source (FPNS) will play a fundamental role in testing and developing fusion materials that can withstand the harsh fusion environment. A thorough assessment is conducted to determine whether blanket materials would benefit from FPNS testing. Because of the cross sections for the various blanket materials, lithium-containing materials can generally be tested […]
Hydrogen and its detection in fusion and fission nuclear materials – a review
Fusion and fission reactions are profoundly dependent on hydrogen for sustained reactions. Fusion is fueled by the isotopes of hydrogen, and predominantly hydrogen-based moderators slow fission neutrons to propagate chain reactions. Intentional tritium production in fusion and concomitant tritium production in fission reactors introduce challenges. The technology to efficiently extract, harvest, and quantify tritium in […]
SOFE2023 Presentation: “Tritium Safety and Sensitivity Analysis of Tritium Extraction eXperiment (TEX) PbLi Loop Using MELCOR-TMAP”
The efficient extraction of tritium from the breeder blanket (BB) in a fusion reactor is vital for maintaining the tritium economy for a sustainable and self-sufficient fusion power plant. The vacuum permeator (VP) design is one of several promising technology platforms for extracting tritium from the BB with the advantages of being capable of operating […]
Hydrogen Permeation and Absorption Tool (HyPAT v2.0): an update to facilitate analysis of data from hydrogen absorption experiments
The Hydrogen Permeation and Absorption Tool (HyPAT) v2.0 is a data analysis application and graphical user interface (GUI) that facilitates the calculation of hydrogen solubility, diffusivity, and permeability from experimental transient absorption data obtained from a Sieverts-type apparatus while assuming a dense metallic plane sheet sample. Prior to the v2.0 update, HyPAT (formerly known as […]