Simulating radiation damage in nuclear materials

Nuclear environments, like fusion reactors, outer space, and nuclear fuels, are some of the harshest environments that materials need to withstand. Materials that are subject to high energy radiation undergo changes in their atomic structure, which then evolve into larger microstructural defects, often with detrimental changes to the material properties. Understanding the initial radiation-matter interaction that causes the atomic displacement is crucial to understanding how the material properties will evolve. Our group has recently developed the first code capable of predicting the distribution of radiation damage production in a realistic material.

This taste of research project will leverage the new capability to discover how current state-of-the-art materials (especially nuclear fuels) are being damaged under a radiation environment, and thus help develop new improved materials for space propulsion, nuclear reactors and fusion energy. There is also scope for further development of the code.