Radiation Science, Nuclear Materials and Fuels Modeling Team

Evolution of fuel microstructure, from electronic structure, through atomic scale, to phase field

Computational materials science focuses on the behavior of materials under irradiation including nuclear fuels.

Capabilities

• Multiscale modeling of materials from ab initio electronic structure to continuum
• Radiation effects in metals and ceramics of interest to the nuclear industry
• New algorithms to extend the time scale accessible to atomic scale simulations of material evolution

Current Projects

• Materials Performance Optimization, a technical focus area within CASL, the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors, a DOE Energy Innovation Hub for Modeling and Simulation of Nuclear Reactors. The MPO objective is to deliver multi-physics multi-scale materials models to enable CASL mission in addressing power uprates, higher burn-up, and life extension
• Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS)-Fuels and Fundamental Methods and Models (FMM), lower length scale material modeling for Atomistic-to- Continuum (AtC) multi-scale simulation in order to provide understanding and improved properties and models for integrated performance codes
• Center for Materials at Irradiation and Mechanical Extremes (CMIME), a Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) designed to understand the behavior at the atomic scale of materials under radiation and mechanical extremes in order to synthesize new materials that can tolerate such conditions