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Launching into tomorrow: NRIC guides new era of research and deployment
In June 2025, the Department of Energy announced the Reactor Pilot Program, an authorization pathway that allowed reactor developers to partner with the DOE to get first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors built and tested. Soon after, the DOE rolled out a complementary Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aimed to fast-track fuel projects. In all, 20 projects were accepted into the new programs.
R. F. Mattas, D. L. Smith
Nuclear Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | July 1978 | Pages 186-198
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A32077
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A computer model based on available materials property data has been developed to predict the lifetimes of first wall structural materials under a variety of reactor conditions. The model combines the materials property data with the appropriate ranges of limiting criteria to establish design lifetimes as functions of such relevant parameters as temperature and integrated neutron wall loading. Empirical equations developed from existing literature data were used to interpolate and extrapolate the required materials properties over the desired ranges. The present effort has concentrated on the evaluation of two candidate structural materials, namely, Type 316 stainless steel and a vanadium-base alloy (V-15% Cr-5% Ti). Curves have been derived that show the estimated lifetime and life-limiting property as a function of temperature for a specified set of design criteria, e.g., maximum swelling of 4%, minimum uniform elongation of 1%, and total creep strain of <1%, for an applied stress of 103 MPa (15 ksi). The results obtained indicate a much longer design lifetime for the vanadium-base alloy than for stainless steel under the conditions of interest. The computational model has been incorporated into the Tokamak Power Plant Systems Program at Argonne National Laboratory.