Heath Huckabay has always been interested in solving problems in reverse, a desire that led him to his latest challenge – building a capability to detect rogue nuclear emissions from anywhere in the world to understand where they came from.
Ionic conduction involves the movement of ions from one location to another inside a material. The ions travel through point defects, which are irregularities in the otherwise consistent arrangement of atoms known as the crystal lattice.
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working to understand both the complex nature of uranium and the various oxide forms it can take during processing steps that might occur throughout the nuclear fuel cycle.