Crucial research needed to inform advancements in nuclear materials and fuel cycle research will soon be underway at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Several ORNL-based projects were selected for 2025 Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) Rapid Turnaround Experiment (RTE) Awards, demonstrating the lab’s unmatched nuclear capabilities that are driving nuclear energy innovation.
These awards provide researchers access to specialized facilities to perform targeted experiments with the aim of swiftly filling nuclear research gaps. Researchers from across the country and from within ORNL will leverage the lab’s specialized facilities to inform advances in nuclear materials and fuels, as well as spent nuclear fuel storage.
How ORNL is strengthening nuclear R&D
Yadu Sasikumar, an R&D staff member in the Used Fuel and Nuclear Material Disposition Group, will lead a RTE project expanding on prior research that characterizes how used nuclear fuel is weakened by repeated stress during transport, handling and storage using ORNL’s Irradiated Fuels Examination Laboratory. The IFEL facility is designed to handle commercial spent fuel and perform a wide range of post-irradiation examinations of nuclear fuels.
“Only when we exactly understand how used nuclear fuel weakens under stress can we ensure its safety and establish better design parameters to transport, store and dispose of it,” Sasikumar said. “We can also inform better engineering of future advanced fuel and cladding designs, making them more robust, predictable and long-lasting from reactor to repository.”
During the six-month project, Sasikumar’s team will characterize fractures in used fuel samples after mimicking stresses during transport. The analysis will help inform when the bond between the cladding and fuel changes because of repeated cyclic bending and how this impacts the rod’s mechanical properties.
Sasikumar will work with industry collaborator Matthieu Aumand, a materials engineer at Framatome, a nuclear fuel and reactor manufacturer, as well as ORNL colleagues Paul Cantonwine, group leader for Used Fuel and Nuclear Material Disposition, and Shaileyee Battacharya, postdoctoral research associate.
ORNL will also host several NSUF awardees from nuclear industry and academia to conduct experiments in the Low Activation Materials Design and Analysis Lab. The LAMDA Lab, a unique space for safely working with low-radiation samples, allows hands-on testing and precise analysis made otherwise impossible in traditional hot cells, which require remote handling. The lab is also equipped with several examination tools to study physical properties and structural data to understand the behavior of materials in nuclear environments.
NSUF awardees will use the LAMDA Lab for research and testing focused on innovations in fuel cladding, reactor core and pressure vessel materials, fiber optic sensors, and accident tolerant fuels. ORNL researchers Christian Petrie, Dan Sweeney, Maxim Gussev, Caleb Massey and Stephen Taller will serve as co-principal investigators on these efforts, providing operational and technical research support to guest researchers.
Why ORNL’s facilities are vital to the future of nuclear energy
ORNL’s suite of NSUF facilities, including the High Flux Isotope Reactor, the Irradiated Materials Examination and Testing facility, IFEL and LAMDA, provide world-class capabilities in material irradiation, post irradiation examination and nuclear materials science. Together, they enable neutron and gamma irradiations, in-depth studies of irradiated fuels and materials, and hands-on collaboration with ORNL experts for analysis, data interpretation and research guidance.
"ORNL’s facilities, combined with our wide range of expertise, are helping researchers tackle big challenges in nuclear energy,” said Kory Linton, ORNL’s senior Nuclear Science User Facility program manager. “It’s this combination of capability and collaboration that keeps ORNL at the forefront of nuclear materials innovation and research.”
ORNL is committed to supporting U.S. energy needs by pursuing strategic research that advances a wide variety of affordable, abundant and competitive nuclear technologies, and strengthens national security. The lab’s scientific expertise and world-class facilities are often the first step in advancing nuclear energy innovations.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. – Liz McCrory
