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Small modular reactors (SMRs), with capacities ranging from 30 to 300 MWe per unit, offer a scalable and compact alternative to traditional large-scale nuclear plants. They provide a promising solution to meet the growing energy demands driven by technology sectors like AI and data centers. These advanced reactors utilize molten salt as both fuel and coolant, exposing structural materials to the combined effects of high-temperature corrosion and intense irradiation from neutron fluxes. Understanding both...

The use of composite materials is constantly evolving, requiring further development and optimization of the mechanical properties of these materials. A number of strategies have been used in the past, choosing different types of fibers, resins and innovative geometric orientations for these fiber-reinforced plastics. Today's discussion will focus on polymer resins and their behavior during dynamic deformation. It is known that the mechanical properties of polymeric materials show...

Technological advancements in resolution, elemental analysis, and sample preparation have established transmission electron microscopy (TEM) as an indispensable tool for studying the structure and composition of a wide range of materials. When combined with modern, specialized in-situ systems, TEM can effectively function as a real-time nanoscale laboratory, enabling direct observation of processes such as growth, degradation, and particle interactions with resolutions down to a few nanometers. This presentation will...

Nuclear fusion and generation-IV fission reactor designs aim for operating temperatures in the range 500°C–1000°C. To optimise neutron efficiency, materials with low neutron cross section are sought for the fuel clad, or tritium breeding module. However, conventional zirconium alloys are precluded due to limited oxidation and creep performance at temperatures >400°C. Two approaches have been explored to meet...

On 3.02.2025, NCBJ's NOMATEN Centre of Excellence hosted experts from Bechtel Poland, a leader in engineering and construction. The study visit discussed opportunities for collaboration in research, testing, certification and qualification of materials used in PWR technology.

As the investigation of the materials' nanoindentation behavior is a nondestructive and powerful tool in the field of micromechanics, it is of no surprise that it has been attracting more attention from both researchers and engineers. Nanoindentation is a very versatile technique and in recent years it has been...

Understanding the evolution of material’s properties under irradiation as well as it connection with the underlying microstructure is a key point for both the development of radiation tolerant materials and nano-materials with tunable properties. To study this connection, we are modeling...

We will show the difficulties encountered by phase-field methods to describe the evolution of materials under irradiation. After a brief theoretical review of phase-field methods, we present the difficulties inherent in their use under irradiation. In particular...

We will show the interest of phase field methods to describe the evolution of microstructure in materials by discussing the nucleation and growth process in FeCr alloys during isochronous annealing. We have implemented...

Only recently, the development of fast differential scanning calorimetry (or chip-calorimetry) has allowed us to characterize in situ the glass transition response of metallic glasses during cooling from the liquid over a wider range of time scales employing scanning rates from 100 K/s up to 50,000 K/s. The generally accepted description is that the vitrification kinetics should exhibit the same temperature dependence as the relaxation time for the alpha-process. However, we have recently observed that vitrification at deep undercooling may occur