Symposium N:

Materials for Nuclear Power Generation

Interest in nuclear power is growing worldwide since it is a “clean” energy source, with no greenhouse gas emissions. The renewed interest in nuclear power generation provides new opportunities for advancements in materials processing and performance. This symposium will address materials for use in nuclear power systems.

The materials used to construct light water nuclear reactors must be resistant to a wide variety of degradation mechanisms such as corrosion, stress corrosion cracking, irradiation embrittlement, and irradiation-induced damage. New reactor designs, such as Generation (Gen) IV reactors, will require materials that can withstand higher operating temperatures. Various Gen IV reactor designs include He-cooled reactors, Na-cooled reactors and Pb-Bi eutectic-cooled reactors. This symposium will deal with all materials used in nuclear power generation applications – including, but not limited to, low alloy steels, reactor pressure vessel steels, stainless steels, nickel-base alloys (such as Alloy 600, Alloy 690, Alloy X-750, Alloy 718, etc.), zirconium alloys, and welds. Specific materials issues in this area include stress corrosion cracking in primary and secondary water environments, corrosion-fatigue, irradiation embrittlement, and long-term ageing behavior of materials. Emphasis will be placed on materials performance, microstructural characterization, environment-sensitive behavior of materials, irradiation effects, and materials optimization via processing.

Hot topics to be covered by the symposium:

• Renaissance in Nuclear Industry – Implications for Materials Research
• Alloy 690: Improved Performance in Pressurized Water Reactors
• Irradiation Embrittlement
• Stress Corrosion Cracking of Steels, Welds and Ni-base Alloys
• New Materials for Nuclear Reactor Applications
• Novel Characterization Techniques for Nuclear Materials Evaluation

Invited speakers/talks (confirmed list):

• Colin A English
• Kawaljit Ahluwalia, Electric Power Research Institute/ Alloy 690 and Related Materials for Improved Performance
• Michael A. Burke, Manager of the Materials Center of Excellence, Westinghouse Electric Co./Overview of Materials in PWR systems
• Arthur Motta, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University/ Zr Alloys for Nuclear Power Systems
• Christine Gueneau, CEA

Scientific committee members (tentative list):

• Luiz Henrique de Almeida, UFRJ, Brazil
• José Augusto Perrota, Diretor de Projetos Especiais do IPEN (Special Projects Director, IPEN) IPEN- Insituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, Brazil
• Luciano Pagano Jr. Centro Tecnologico da Marinha, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
• David Banchik, Comision Nacional de Energía Atómica, Argentina
• Takeyuki Inagaki, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Japan
• Jonathan M. Hyde, National Nuclear Laboratory, and Oxford University, UK

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