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Mechanisms of Radiation Damage and Properties of Nuclear Materials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Gregory R. Lumpkin
Affiliation:
[email protected], Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Menai, Australia
Kath Smith
Affiliation:
[email protected], Embassy of Australia, Office for Nuclear Science and Technology, 1601 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20036, United States, 202 797 3042
Karl Whittle
Affiliation:
[email protected], Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Menai, Australia
Bronwyn S. Thomas
Affiliation:
[email protected], Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Menai, Australia
Nigel A. Marks
Affiliation:
[email protected], Curtin University of Technology, Nanochemistry Research Institute, Perth, Australia
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Abstract

Radiation damage effects in ceramics, e.g., nuclear waste forms, transmutation targets, and inert matrix fuels, may have important implications for the physical and chemical stability of these materials as the cumulative radiation dose increases over time. A key aspect of scientific research in this area is the ability to understand the fundamental damage mechanisms through the combination of experimental and atomistic modelling techniques. In this paper, we review some of the lessons learned from the significant body of data now available for pyrochlore-defect fluorite based materials, followed by an illustration of the advantages of working on simple compounds with well established interatomic potentials. We conclude the paper with a description of radiation damage processes in the LaxSr1-1.5xTiO3 defect perovskites, a system that includes phase transformations, short-range order effects, and complex defect behavior.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2010

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