Mechanistic understanding of hydrided region overload cracking

安大略省的18个加拿大重铀(CANDU)反应堆的发电量占其发电量的60%，二氧化碳的排放量可以忽略不计。它是一个支持7.6万个加拿大工作岗位的行业，收入高达数百亿美元。由于与核电厂(NPP)相关的大部分财务和二氧化碳成本都是在初期建设期间，因此通过准确的维护、维修和翻新预测来最大化核电厂的寿命可以带来巨大的经济效益，同时将二氧化碳排放量保持在较低水平。压力管(PT)是CANDU设计的关键部件，是重水冷却剂的压力边界。在反应器中，由于缓慢的均匀腐蚀反应，PT的总氢含量随着时间的延长而增加。如果有足够的氢存在，它可以沉淀形成氢化物。拟议的工作将从机理上理解与这些氢化物相关的潜在破裂机制，有助于确保现有反应堆尽可能长时间的安全运行，提供经济和环境效益。它将在一个行业对训练有素的人员继续表现出巨大需求的领域，在关键主题上培训几名学生和博士后。

Ontario's 18 CANada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors generate >60% of its electricity, with negligible CO2 production. It is an industry supporting 76,000 Canadian jobs with revenues in the tens of billions of dollars. Since the majority of financial and CO2 cost associated with nuclear power plants (NPPs) is during initial build, maximizing NPP lifetimes by enabling accurate maintenance, repair and refurbishment predictions provides great economic benefit, while keeping CO2 production low. The Pressure Tube (PT) is a key component of the CANDU design, acting as the pressure boundary for the heavy water coolant. The total Hydrogen (H) content of the PT increases with time in reactor, due to a slow uniform corrosion reaction. If sufficient H is present it can precipitate forming a hydride. The proposed work will develop a mechanistic understanding of a potential cracking mechanism associated with these hydrides, helping to ensure safe running of existing reactors for as long as possible, providing economic and environmental benefits. It will train several students and postdocs in key topics, in an area where industry continues to exhibit significant demand for highly trained personnel.