Eric Pitcher, Los Alamos National Laboratory
September 19, 2011
The proposed Materials Test Station, to be built at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, will use the high-power proton beam from the LANSCE accelerator to create an intense neutron irradiation environment for nuclear materials testing. The primary mission is to test advanced fuels and materials for fast reactor applications, including fuels bearing minor actinides, in support of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy's Fuel Cycle R&D program. Damage rates of up to 15 dpa per year in iron can be achieved within the fuel irradiation region. Not only can the MTS perform integral testing of fuel rodlets subjected to prototypic fast reactor conditions, it is also well suited to conducting separate effects experiments that are critically important to understanding the underlying processes that contribute to fuel aging and ultimately fuel failure. Separate effects testing of the type than can be conducted in MTS can validate modeling efforts that are used to simulate fuel performance.
Location is 3105 Etcheverry Hall; Cookies and Coffee served at 3:45.
