THE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND TESTING OF AN ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR IN-SITU CREEP CAPSULE THAT ACCOMMODATES MULTIPLE SPECIMEN GEOMETRIES

Nuclear reactors operate under extreme environmental conditions, such as neutron bombardment, elevated temperatures, and high pressures. Over time, the harsh environmental conditions affect the material properties of structural materials and fuels. Studying the mechanical properties of structural materials and advanced fuels is common practice that is required to validate the material performance for deployment within the next-generation reactors. Next-generation reactors, such as Generation-IV reactors, will operate in more extreme environments than the current fleet of power reactors, with temperatures reaching potentially over 1,000℃ and the use of corrosive coolants, such as lead, lead-bismuth, and liquid sodium. Studying in-situ mechanical properties, such as irradiation creep, is challenging, particularly in next-generation reactor conditions. The instruments used to measure in-situ irradiation creep must collect data in real-time while experiencing harsh in-reactor conditions. Many historical in-situ creep capsules have implemented a variety of designs to measure irradiation creep. The current study designed, developed, and tested a novel, modular in-situ creep capsule to address the challenges of testing candidate materials for next-generation reactors. The in-situ creep capsule utilizes modern manufacturing methods, instrumentation, and alloying to address extreme environmental temperatures. Implementing modern technology has positioned the critical components of an in-situ creep capsule near the specimen, improving the accuracy of measuring irradiation creep in real-time. The modular design of the in-situ creep capsule allows the testing of various specimen geometries, thus making it a first-of-a-kind.