National Postirradiation Examination Workshop Needs Assessment

The development of nuclear fuels and materials requires a clear understanding of irradiation effects on the materials performance. Development of this understanding at present relies on irradiation experiments ranging from tests aimed at targeted phenomenology to integral effects under both prototypic and off-normal conditions. Within the new DOE paradigm of a science-based approach aimed at more fundamental understanding of fuel performance, more specialized experiments and measurements are needed. To support the development of such fuels and materials, especially under a science-based development strategy, the nation needs a consolidated, state-of-the-art, post-irradiation examination (PIE) capability that can reliably extract the needed data from the experimental programs. In some cases, new capabilities beyond the current state-of-the art need to be developed and implemented to perform measurements that were not needed in the more empirically based approaches used in earlier fuel development and qualification programs. A national PIE workshop was held in March 2011 which solicited the PIE needs that are necessary to support both DOE and U.S. goals for nuclear energy. These needs recognize that significant capability already exists that must be maintained, upgraded and continued while bringing online new capabilities that support research on highly irradiated fuels and materials. Further, these needs mostly focus on the reducing the time and length scales in which materials can be examined and coupling these measurements with a robust modeling capability within an infrastructure that can meet the needs of higher demand and a variety of customers. A consolidated capability where a comprehensive set of measurements can be simultaneously performed is essential for efficiently implementing fuel and materials development programs in a cost effective manner. This document captures the national PIE needs necessary to support current and future research, and where possible identifies where those capabilities are allocated.