Textbook:

Gary S. Was, Fundamentals of Radiation Materials Science: Metals and Alloys

References:

M. W. Thompson, Defects and Radiation Damage, Cambridge Press, 1969.

D. Olander, Fundamental Aspects of Nuclear Fuel Elements.

Course Objectives: It is the instructor's intention to...

familiarize students with the interaction of radiation and materials.

familiarize students with the different effects of electrons, ions and neutrons.

familiarize students with the relationship between microscopic defects and macroscopic effects.

expose students to the different radiation environments in fission and fusion reactors.

expose students to some of the unique materials problems yet to be solved in nuclear systems.

Course Outcomes: Students must be able to...

recognize failure modes and ways to avoid them.

predict useful lifetimes of metals under irradiation.

predict the effect of temperature on the retained damage in metals.

predict solid and gaseous swelling rates in metals.

identify common metallurgical processes to mitigate radiation damage.

identify impurities that may affect the way point defects modify the macroscopic behavior of metals.

understand how radiation damage can modify reactor performance.

NEEP 541 meets three times per week in conventional 50-minute lectures.

The following statement indicates which of the following considerations are included in this course: economic, environmental, ethical, political, societal, health and safety, manufacturability, sustainability.

NEEP 541 focuses on the phenomenology of nuclear fuel and materials behavior in a radiation environment. To the extent that the course teaches students how to avoid conditions that result in failure, it can be said that the course places some emphasis on safety. The main objectives of the course, however, are devoted to the physics of radiation interactions in matter and how those interactions manifest themselves in macroscopic, observable changes in fuel and material properties.

NEEP 541 is appropriate as a senior technical elective or graduate student breadth elective. It provides fundamental background in nuclear fuel and materials performance, providing an important component in the formal education of students intending to make a career in the nuclear fission power industry.