Grant: Alliance Grants
Queen's University
$349,500.00
Materials deformation and aging in nuclear power systems
EF 2024-25
Résumé
There is a world-wide recognition that nuclear must be a major component of future power generation to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to address climate change and extreme weather events. Canada needs significant new electricity generation capacity to address electrification of transportation and heating, as well as the process-heat needs of industry. Maximising the lifetime of existing Canadian reactors makes economic and environmental sense in terms of producing electricity without CO2 production. There is an international development race underway for small modular reactors (SMRs). By using advanced reactor concepts in a smaller design, SMRs require reduced capital investment, have enhanced safety features, and are scalable; thus equally applicable to remote communities in northern Canada, or mining operations, and for on-grid applications.
The key technology gap limiting life extension of existing nuclear plants, as well as rapid deployment of SMRs, is the ability to accurately predict materials performance in the high radiation nuclear environment. This proposal addresses the research needs of next generation SMRs and existing Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors, within the area of structural materials for nuclear power. There are four research goals identified in collaboration with industrial partners: 1) to determine the behavior of existing nuclear materials in both present generation CANDU reactors and the more severe environments that are expected in SMRs; 2) explore the suitability of new materials and coatings proposed for implementation in SMRs; 3) develop a quantitative understanding of the behavior of materials within a reactor environment with the goal of developing predictive models; 4) develop a physical understanding of the mechanisms and processes that are specific to the nuclear reactor environment. As well as delivering on these research goals, the proposal will serve to train graduate students in an area where there is a strong industrial demand for expert HQP.
Programme
Alliance Grants
Bénéficiaire
Emplacement
Ontario, Canada
Type de bénéficiaire
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
Tel que publié
Application id
575642-2022
Name nom
Daymond, Mark MR
Department département
Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Organization id
29
Institution établissement
Queen's University
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2024
Competition year année de concours
2022
Award amount
349500
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
302
Area of application group en
Energy resources
Area of application group fr
Ressources d'énergie
Area of application en
Nuclear energy
Area of application fr
Énergie nucléaire
Research subject code
2001
Research subject group en
Materials science and technology
Research subject group fr
Science et technologie des matériaux
Research subject en
Materials structure, properties and testing
Research subject fr
Structure, propriétés et essais des matériaux
Field of research list names en
Not available
Field of research list names fr
Non disponible
Socioeconomic objective list names en
Not available
Socioeconomic objective list names fr
Non disponible
Application title
Materials deformation and aging in nuclear power systems
Keywords
candu reactors; irradiation damage; nuclear materials; small modular reactors; zirconium alloys
Application summary
There is a world-wide recognition that nuclear must be a major component of future power generation to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to address climate change and extreme weather events. Canada needs significant new electricity generation capacity to address electrification of transportation and heating, as well as the process-heat needs of industry. Maximising the lifetime of existing Canadian reactors makes economic and environmental sense in terms of producing electricity without CO2 production. There is an international development race underway for small modular reactors (SMRs). By using advanced reactor concepts in a smaller design, SMRs require reduced capital investment, have enhanced safety features, and are scalable; thus equally applicable to remote communities in northern Canada, or mining operations, and for on-grid applications.
The key technology gap limiting life extension of existing nuclear plants, as well as rapid deployment of SMRs, is the ability to accurately predict materials performance in the high radiation nuclear environment. This proposal addresses the research needs of next generation SMRs and existing Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors, within the area of structural materials for nuclear power. There are four research goals identified in collaboration with industrial partners: 1) to determine the behavior of existing nuclear materials in both present generation CANDU reactors and the more severe environments that are expected in SMRs; 2) explore the suitability of new materials and coatings proposed for implementation in SMRs; 3) develop a quantitative understanding of the behavior of materials within a reactor environment with the goal of developing predictive models; 4) develop a physical understanding of the mechanisms and processes that are specific to the nuclear reactor environment. As well as delivering on these research goals, the proposal will serve to train graduate students in an area where there is a strong industrial demand for expert HQP.
