UN0901 - Nuclear Material
(2009 version)

Announcements

• Offered March 21 - May 2, 2009.

Course Description:

A nuclear reactor presents a unique environment in which materials must perform. In addition to the high temperatures and stresses to which materials are subjected in conventional applications, nuclear materials are subjected to various kinds of radiation which affect their performance, and often this dictates a requirement for a unique property (for example, a low cross section for thermal neutron absorption) that is not relevant in conventional applications. The effects of the radiation may be direct (e.g., the displacement of atoms from their normal positions by fast neutrons or fission fragments), or indirect (e.g., a more aggressive chemical environment caused by radiolytic decomposition). This course describes materials typically used in nuclear environments, the unique conditions to which they are subjected, the basic physical phenomena that affect their performance and the resulting design criteria for reactor components made from these materials.

Prerequisite: Registration in the UNENE Joint M. Eng. Program
Lecturers: Rick Holt and Mark Daymond

Course Administration

• Course Outline (pdf 8kb)
• Schedule
  • Session 1 - Saturday, March 21 / Sunday, March 22, 2009
  • Session 2 - Saturday, April 4 / Sunday, April 5, 2009
  • Session 3 - Saturday, April 18 / Sunday, April 19, 2009
  • Session 4 - Saturday, April 25 / Sunday, May 2, 2009

Course Notes

• [These course notes are password protected. You will need to register in the course and contact the instructor to receive the password. The username is un901]
• Session 1 - Introduction and Review of Physical Metallurgy
  • Day 1 Daymond
    • Lecture 1 - Introduction (pdf 567kb)
    • Lecture 2 - Crystallography and Point Defects (pdf 444kb)
    • Lecture 3 - Dislocations and Boundaries (pdf 1.5Mb)
    • Lecture 4 - Plastic Instability and Fracture (pdf 938kb)
  • Day 2 Daymond
    • Lecture 5 - Texture-Plasticity-Plastic Anisotropy (pdf 533kb)
    • Lecture 6 - Creep and Fatigue (pdf 1.35Mb)
    • Lecture 7 - Residual Stress (pdf 867kb)
    • Lecture 8 - Phase Diagrams (pdf 346kb)
• Session 2 – Reactors and Radiation Effects
  • Day 3 Daymond
    • Lecture 9 – Physics of Nuclear Reactors (pdf 413kb)
    • Lecture 10 – Power Reactor Design 1, Reactor Systems (pdf 5.37Mb)
    • Lecture 11 – Power Reactor Design 2, Safety of CANDU (pdf 2.2Mb)
    • Tutorial
  • Day 4 Holt
    • Lecture 12– Radiation Effects (pdf 3.7Mb)
  • Lecture 13– Evolution of Microstructure and Microchemistry (pdf 4.7Mb)
  • Lecture 14– Radiation Induced Deformation 1, without applied stress (pdf 5.0Mb)
  • Lecture 15– Radiation Induced Deformation 2, with applied stress (pdf 2.8Mb)
• Session 3 – Fuel Channels
  • Day 5 Holt
    • Lecture 16 – Overview of Fuel Channel Technology (pdf 1.6Mb), 6 slides per page (pdf 594kb)
    • Lecture 17 – Physical Metallurgy of Pressure Tubes and Calandria Tubes (pdf 5.7Mb), 6 slides per page (pdf 2.1Mb)
    • Lecture 18 – Microstructure of Pressure Tubes (pdf 3.4Mb), 6 slides per page (pdf 1.3Mb)
    • Lecture 19 – Deformation of Pressure Tubes (pdf 4.2Mb), 6 slides per page (pdf 1.1Mb)
  • Day 6 Holt
    • Lecture 20 – Pressure Tube Corrosion and Deuterium Ingress (pdf 263kb), 6 slides per page (pdf 199kb)
    • Lecture 21 – Delayed Hydride Cracking and Fracture (pdf 4.5Mb), 6 slides per page (pdf 1.4Mb)
    • Lecture 22 – Calandria Tubes (pdf 4.0Mb), 6 slides per page (pdf 1.2Mb)
    • Tutorial
• Session 4 – CANDU Fuel and Post-Irradiation Examination
  • Day 7 Holt
    • Lecture 23 – Design and Manufacture of Fuel (pdf 2.7Mb), 6 slides per page (pdf 973kb)
    • Lecture 24 – Fuel Operation (pdf 2.1Mb), 6 slides per page (pdf 1.0Mb)
    • Lecture 25 – Fuel Performance (pdf 3.3Mb), 6 slides per page (pdf 801kb)
    • Lecture 26 – Examination and Testing of Radioactive Components (pdf 2.5Mb), 6 slides per page (pdf 978kb)
• Session 5 – CANDU Out-Reactor Components
  • Day 8 Daymond
    • Lecture 27 – CANDU Feeders (pdf 423kb)
    • Lecture 28 – Steam Generator Design and Degradation (pdf 397kb)
    • Lecture 29 – Mitigation of Steam Generator Degradation (pdf 262kb)
    • Tutorial

Course Assignments

• Assignment 1 (pdf 90kb)
• Assignment 2 (pdf 17kb)
• Assignment 3 (pdf 14kb)
• Assignment 4 (pdf 9kb)

Class Recordings

These are audio and screen capture of the actual classes. BBFlashback was used to create a self standing executable. Just down load and run. Use the View command on the toolbar to adjust the movie screen size. File sizes are large but that is the best we can do at the moment. [These recordings of the actual class are password protected. You will need to register in the course and contact the instructor to receive the password. The username is un901]

• Lecture 1 Introduction (exe 15.8Mb)
• Lecture 2 Crystallography-and-Point-Defects (exe 25.3Mb)
• Lecture 3 Dislocations and Boundaries (exe 33.3Mb)
• Lecture 4 Plastic Instability and Fracture (exe 24.7Mb)
• Lecture 5 Texture and Plastic Anisotropy(exe 17.3Mb)
• Lecture 6 Creep and Fatigue (exe 27.9 Mb)
• Lecture 7 Residual Stress (exe 24.5Mb)
• Lecture 8 Phase Diagrams (exe 15.2Mb)
• Lecture 9 Physics of Nuclear Reactors (exe 19.9Mb)
• Lecture 10 Power Reactor Design 1, Reactor Systems (exe 17Mb)
• Lecture 11 Power Reactor Design 2, Safety of CANDU (exe 14Mb)
• Lecture 12– Radiation Effects (exe 32.2Mb)
• Lecture 13– Evolution of Microstructure and Microchemistry (exe 48Mb)
• Lecture 14– Radiation Induced Deformation 1, without applied stress (exe 29.2Mb)
• Lecture 15– Radiation Induced Deformation 2, with applied stress (exe 16.3Mb)
• Lecture 16 Technology of CANDU Pressure Tubes (exe 17.9Mb) - Note this is the 2007 recording. The 2009 version is unfortunately not avaliable.
• Lecture 17 Physical Metallurgy of Pressure Tubes and Calandria Tubes (exe 20Mb) - Note this is the 2007 recording. The 2009 version is unfortunately not avaliable.
• Lecture 18 – Microstructure of Pressure Tubes (exe 22.4Mb)
• Lecture 19 – Deformation of Pressure Tubes (exe 42.4Mb)
• Lecture 20 – Pressure Tube Corrosion and Deuterium Ingress (exe 7.9Mb) - Note this is the 2007 recording. The 2009 version is unfortunately not avaliable.
• Lecture 21 – Delayed Hydride Cracking and Fracture (exe 27.2Mb)
• Lecture 22 – Calandria Tubes (exe 204Mb) - Sorry, huge file because of imbedded movies. The 2007 version (exe 13.8 Mb) is also available.
• Lecture 23 – Design and Manufacture of Fuel (exe 42.5Mb)
• Lecture 24 – Fuel Operation (exe 31.6Mb)
• Lecture 25 – Fuel Performance (exe 31.8Mb)
• Lecture 26 – Examination and Testing of Radioactive Components (exe 41.1Mb) - Note this is the 2007 recording. The 2009 version is unfortunately not avaliable.
• Lecture 27 – CANDU Feeders (exe 18.6Mb) - Note this is the 2007 recording. The 2009 version is unfortunately not avaliable.
• Lecture 28 – Steam Generator Design and Degradation (exe 18.5Mb)
• Lecture 29 – Mitigation of Steam Generator Degradation (exe 11.9Mb)

Learning Resources

• DoITPoMS Teaching and Learning Packages - Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge. In particular see Particularly the headings:
  • Atomic Structure - Atomic Scale Structure
  • Atomic Structure - Lattice Planes
  • Atomic Structure - Solid Solutions
  • Atomic Structure - Introduction to Dislocations
  • Atomic Structure - Introduction to Anisotropy
  • Mechanical Behaviour - Slip in Single Crystals
  • Mechanical Behabiour - Fracture of Glass
  • For later in the course, the following may be useful : Techniques for Studying - X-ray Diffraction
• In terms of general materials text books that you might want to borrow from the library or get hold of 2nd hand, I would suggest:
  • Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, R.W. Hertzberg , pub. John Wiley & Sons (1995). ISBN# 0471012149.
  • Mechanical Metallurgy, G.E. Dieter, pub. McGraw Hill, year depends on Edition (3rd is most recent I think).
• MIT Open Courseware - 3.11 Mechanics of Materials