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Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
NRC cuts fees by 50 percent for advanced reactor applicants
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced it has amended regulations for the licensing, inspection, special projects, and annual fees it will charge applicants and licensees for fiscal year 2025.
Mark T. Paffett, R. Scott Willms, Charles A. Gentile, Charles H. Skinner
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 41 | Number 3 | May 2002 | Pages 934-938
Material Interaction and Permeation | Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology Tsukuba, Japan November 12-16, 2001 | doi.org/10.13182/FST02-A22722
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Surface characterization studies were performed on graphite tiles used as first wall materials during DT operation of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. These ex situ analysis studies revealed a number of interesting and unexpected features. In this work we examined the spatial and (where possible) the depth distribution of impurity species deposited onto the plasma facing surfaces using X-ray Photo-electron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). This work determined that beyond the predominant species of carbon and oxygen, common impurities included silicon, boron, lithium and sulfur. Oxygen content in the plasma facing tile surfaces ranged from 20 to 50 atomic percent [excluding H-isotopes], clearly indicating an extensive zone of oxidized carbon. By contrast, carbon tile surfaces not exposed to the plasma have surface oxygen contents ranging from 2 to 6 atomic percent. Analytical measurements of the secondary impurities (B, Li, Si, S) levels were on the order of 1–4 atomic percent, (boron and lithium were injected for wall conditioning in TFTR.) The core level binding energies of these impurity species were consistent with the presence of common oxides or hydroxides (e.g., BxOy, Li2O, LiOH, Silicates). XPS measurements performed in concert with depth profiling indicated that the tile oxidized zone was significantly deeper than 1 micrometer into the (averaged) surface. Surface analytical results clearly indicate that plasma operations clearly redeposit injected impurities (Li, B) and the depth profiles and distributions of the hydrogen isotopes may be impactedand/or influenced by this deposition process.An attempt at determining hydrogen isotope concentration distributions was made using positive ion SIMS. Specific regions of some surfaces clearly indicated the presence of m/z=3 (HD, T) and m/z=15 (CH3, CHD, CT). Preliminary data examination using positive ion SIMS examination indicates that these mass markers are substantially higher in the near surface region when compared with spectra recorded deeper in the surface region. The deuterium and tritium concentrations were; however, sufficiently low or compromised bycommon isobaric interferencesthat accurate isotopic distributions using SIMS were not possible. These findings are in agreement with results reported by others. [Morimoto et al, Sun et al, reference 3 Haasz et al]