Materials deformation and aging in nuclear power systems

全世界都认识到，核能必须成为未来发电的主要组成部分，以降低温室气体(GHG)排放，以应对气候变化和极端天气事件。加拿大需要大量新的发电能力，以满足运输和供暖的电气化以及工业的工艺热能需求。在不产生二氧化碳的情况下发电，最大限度地延长加拿大现有反应堆的寿命在经济和环境上都是有意义的。小型模块化反应堆(SMR)的国际开发竞赛正在进行中。通过在更小的设计中使用先进的反应堆概念，SMR需要更少的资本投资，具有增强的安全功能，并且可扩展；因此同样适用于加拿大北部的偏远社区或采矿作业，以及电网应用。限制现有核电站寿命延长以及SMR快速部署的关键技术差距是能够准确预测高辐射核环境中的材料性能。该提案解决了新一代SMR和现有的加拿大重铀堆(CANDU)在核电结构材料领域的研究需求。与工业伙伴合作确定了四个研究目标：1)确定现有核材料在当代CANDU反应堆和SMR预期的更恶劣环境中的行为；2)探索建议在SMR中实施的新材料和涂层的适宜性；3)对反应堆环境中材料的行为进行量化了解，目的是开发预测模型；4)对核反应堆环境特有的机制和过程进行物理理解。除了实现这些研究目标外，该提案还将在一个行业对专家HQP有强烈需求的领域培养研究生。

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.