Manufacture & Materials for Fission & Fusion Net-zero

Mr Toby Lant

Technical Consultant, Lant Power Ltd

Toby Lant undertook his first degree In Materials at UC Swansea, followed by a Master's at Cranfield University. He has worked in Power Plant and Petrochemical Integrity Issues for the Last 40 years. His Last position was as Mechanical Technical Authority for the 9 Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Stations at Centrica Energy. This involved both research and development industrial projects for instance Flex-E -Plant and signing off pressure systems for instance Station Re-power projects. Toby is now supporting stations on outage work and meeting the requirements of the PSSR regulations.

Dr Amanda Quadling

Director of Materials, UKAEA

In a first career as geologist-geochemist, Amanda created and ran diamond exploration laboratories for De Beers and BHP Billiton before managing the Mineralogy Division at the South African Science Council (Mintek). At this time, she worked with the South African diplomatic service to advance the aims of the global Kimberley Process to prevent use of conflict diamonds and negotiated a grant with the SA Diamond Regulator to create Africa’s first diamond provenance laboratory at the Council.

Amanda moved to the UK ten years ago to complete a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Imperial College London and was then appointed Director of the Ceramic Fibre Centre of Excellence for global corporate Morgan Advanced Materials. Successful in putting a new commercial insulation product into play, she was also a member of their Technology Advisory Board, shaping the international research agenda across their materials businesses. Most recently, as Technical Director for M&I Materials (tungsten, dielectrics, electroceramics), she created a new product incubator in collaboration with the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre and was a Board member for the British Ceramic Confederation.

In 2019, Amanda was named 10th most influential women in UK engineering 2019 (Financial Times). She is now UKAEA’s Director of Materials, and together with the Royce Institute, is focussed on a Fusion Materials Roadmap for the UK.

 

Abstract: A brief overview of where the UK drivers are for new nuclear materials and manufacturing challenges?

In the demand-supply gap estimated at approximately 300 TWh for clean and sustainable energy for the UK by 2050, both fission and fusion have much to contribute to reliable baseload. These technologies are at different stages of maturity when considering small modular reactor fission powerplants, but less so when when comparing UK proposals for builds in the next 20 years, of an Advanced (High Temperature Gas) Modular Reactor Demonstrator (fission) and a prototype fusion powerplant (STEP). In both instances, enhanced neutron resilience would benefit fuel system engineering, and reduced activation compositions will lessen the active waste burden.
Silicon carbide is a material of interest to both fission and fusion: tristructural isotopic fuel continues to capture fission’s imagination because of the passive safety it delivers but must overcome silicon carbide’s brittle failure, oxidation and porosity capture of actinides. For fusion, tritium breeding modules require structural integrity in metals or ceramic composites at neutron fluxes of 1023  and 14 MeV energy, above 600°C if at all possible, and silicon carbide may deliver this benefit if transmutation effects are better explored.
Reduced activation presents particular opportunities for UK industry to improve the purity controls in current process plants, particularly for fission/fusion relevant castable steels as was recently recognised within the UK Nuclear Innovation Programme’s Phase 1 portfolio.

Dr Martin Lamb

Principal Inspector - Nuclear Safety, Office for Nuclear Regulation

Since 2009 Martin has worked for ONR where he is responsible for the safety of steel structures and components in new build. Martin is the lead inspector for Hinkley Point C structural integrity and contributes to ONR work on other designs including high temperature gas cooled reactors. Before joining ONR, Martin worked in the electricity supply industry where he provided comprehensive and consistent recommendations on materials behaviour for use in integrity assessments and carried out root cause analyses to understand and resolve plant problems. Martin's early career was at Rolls-Royce where he worked on the outsourced manufacture of gas turbine disks. Martin was awarded his PhD for research on laser welding by Imperial College and his BSc in Metallurgy and Materials Science from the University of Nottingham.

Dr Kate Burke

Chief of Manufacturing Technology, Rolls Royce

No bio provided

Mr James Connell

Metallurgist , Nuclear AMRC

James Connell is a metallurgist working in advanced manufacturing research for the nuclear industry. He supports the development solid state and fusion joining processes to produce components with properties meeting industry codes and standards, focussing upon arc and power beam welding processes, powder metallurgy and hot isostatic pressing.

 

Abstract: Advanced manufacturing methods for nuclear

Key technologies from the Nuclear AMRC shall be described and their application to nuclear materials. Example projects shall include circumferential electron beam welding of pressure vessel steel with keyhole closure and iterative improvement of PM-HIP SA508 Grade 3 toughness.

Mike Spindler

Materials Engineer, EDF Energy

Abstracts: Taking the Learning from Operating Experience on the Advanced Gas cool Reactors to High Temperature Gas Reactors

This talk with review the operating experience of cracking in steel components in the UKs Fleet of Advanced Gas cool Reactors.  Lessons learned will be applied to proposed designs for High Temperature Gas Reactors (HTGR) and what these lessons mean for the design, operation and regulation of any future fleet of HTGR in the UK. 

: edfenergy.com

Dr Mark Chatterton

Operations Manager, Jacobs Clean Energy

Mark has a broad industrial and commercial experience in Italy in addition to the UK. Currently, he is responsible for the specialist area of High Temperature Materials & Novel Testing within the Materials Science and Structural Integrity team at Jacobs, which includes the management of the ~25 staff and the laboratories associated with the line of business. This area includes their  supporting research for the next generation of high temperature nuclear reactors. In addition to ensuring safe delivery, on time and budget, he is responsible for driving business development for the team and the department, meeting with current and potential new customers, including private, governmental and academic organisations. He is a key interface in the business between senior management and the day-to-day delivery of technical projects, including the organisation of the staff team to meet the delivery timescales. He is manage a varied team of highly skilled and motivated professionals, for which I am responsible for their technical and personal development, identifying and assisting with the organisation of training. Other responsibilities include departmental meetings, site walk downs, and procurement and implementation of CAPEX items.

Abstract: Advanced Reactor Environmental Testing

Novel materials and advanced manufacturing techniques will require a significant level of mechanical evaluation and substantiation prior to them being considered for application in future advanced reactor systems. In this presentation the need for targeted mechanical evaluation is noted, along with recent developments within Jacobs to enhance evaluation technologies for creep and fatigue, and the provision of reactor relevant environments (e.g. PWR, LFR and HTGR). Thus, the use of digital image correlation for strain monitoring with creep and for strain control during fatigue cycling has been undertaken and initial results are presented. The development of the necessary chemical composition control for producing reactor relevant environments in both water reactors, high temperature gas cooled reactors and also liquid lead cooled reactor concepts will be described and the application to mechanical testing, especially noting the need for extended test exposures to these environments to minimise the risk of missing key environmental interactions, prior to service entry.

Matt Meekin FIMechE

Engineering Manager of the U-Battery Advanced Modular Reactor, URENCO

Matt Meekin is the Engineering Manager of the U-Battery Advanced Modular Reactor under development by U-Battery Development Ltd.

He is a Chartered engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Matt has 17 years’ experience in the chemicals, oil and gas and nuclear engineering sectors including front line engineering, reliability, maintenance, turnaround and major projects. 
 

Dr Andrew Wisbey

Head of Profession - Structural Integrity, Jacobs Clean Energy

No bio provided

Prof Mahmoud Mostafavi

Professor of Structural Integrity (RAEng Research Chair), University of Bristol

Mahmoud Mostafavi is a Professor of Structural Integrity (Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair) at the University of Bristol. He is co-director of Southwest Nuclear Hub which provides a focus for civil nuclear research, innovation and skills in the South West of the UK, bringing together a strategic alliance of academic, industrial and governmental members. His research is in the field of fatigue, fracture, and creep of metallic alloys with specific focus on industrial applications in demanding environments (e.g. high temperature).

 

Abstract: Advanced modelling techniques and experiments in support of high temperature materials integrity assessments

New high temperature fission and fusion reactors need to be designed much faster than the current procedures allow if we are to tackle the energy challenge while concurrently brining the cost of such immense projects down. The designs are desired to be probabilistic rather than deterministic and ideally, new materials which much more suitable properties to withstand the demanding environments of future plants are to be utilised. Carrying out qualification of advanced materials to the point the integrity of the components from which they are built is assessed probabilistically require years of costly experiments. An alternative approach is do such qualification, to the satisfaction of the regulator, in-silico. That is, having verified and validated high fidelity model, reliable enough to replace experiments. In this presentation a combined experimental – modelling multi-scale framework is introduced that is working towards achieving the in-silico qualification capability. To show its reliability, it is used to simulate the creep-fatigue behaviour of a well-established high temperature material stainless steel type 316H. Using this material allow the unrivalled UK’s experience of operating a fleet of high temperature reactors to be harnessed yet the framework, is material agnostic so it can be applied to new metallic systems.

: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/mahmoud-mostafavi

Dr Tomas Martin

Senior Lecturer in Materials Physics, University of Bristol

Dr Tomas Martin is Senior Lecturer in Materials Physics within the School of Physics at the University of Bristol. His research uses advanced microstructural characterisation techniques across different length scales, combined with modelling to understand the structure and chemistry of materials for nuclear reactors, semiconductor devices and aerospace, with particular focus on materials degradation in extreme environments. He supervises undergradate and PhD projects and teaches courses at undergraduate level in Physics and is Course Director for the MSc in Nuclear Science and Engineering.

 

Abstract: Effect of Thermal aging on the creep lives of austenitic steels

Creep is an important failure mechanism in high temperature applications such as advanced gas cooled fission reactors, gas turbines and aerospace engines, and is expected to be relevant for fusion tokamak reactors. Creep damage starts with cavity formation at microscopic defects within polycrystalline materials, followed by growth and coalescence into micro-cracks and eventually limiting service life. The difference in length scale between the initial microstructural feature that initiates the process and the overall size of the engineering component can make it hard to connect failure back to its origin. In austenitic steels, precipitates within the steel play an important role as trapping sites for dislocations and vacancies, making them key nucleation sites of creep cavities. However, during the operation of high temperature components, austenitic steels will also experience thermal aging, resulting in the formation of new precipitates, which can make the material more susceptible to creep. This presentation will look at the characterisation of creep cavitation and microstructure in AISI Type 316H and 316L steels, both from ex-service and laboratory creep tests. Advanced correlative microscopy approaches using electron backscatter diffraction, focused ion beam, transmission electron microscopy and high-speed atomic force microscopy will be presented that allow the interactions between grain orientation, precipitation and creep to be explored in new detail. Implications of the effect of thermal aging on creep susceptibility in austenitic steels will be discussed.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-l-martin-37110a1

Dr Huw Dawson

Senior Materials Engineer, UK Atomic Energy Authority

Huw Dawson has been at working UKAEA for over 5 years after completing his PhD at the University of Manchester. He is now based in the Materials Department and focuses on developing next-generation reduced-activation steel alloys for nuclear fusion.

Abstract: Materials development challenges for future fusion reactors

If nuclear fusion can be harnessed on earth as a source of energy production, it could likely play an integral role in long-term global clean, baseline energy production. The world is looking to drastically reduce its reliance on CO2 emitting sources of energy while also expecting an ever-increasing demand for energy as much of the world is still developing. Nuclear fusion reactors could provide large clean amounts of energy from a potentially limitless source without some of the large drawbacks with other energy sources, such as risk of proliferation in fission or intermittency of production from renewable energy sources.

Building a nuclear fusion reactor is a huge scientific and engineering challenge – and great advancements are being achieved. One of the core challenges that fusion energy faces is developing and testing materials that can operate reliably at desired temperatures for desired lifetimes. Large efforts are required to address these challenges in time for prototype and commercial fusion reactors to become a reality in the envisaged timelines.

The divertor, first wall and breeder blanket components, located within the vacuum vessel of the reactor, will all be subjected to significant and sustained high temperatures during operation, as well as dealing with other complex material challenges such as corrosion and neutron irradiation damage. This presentation will cover some of the main material challenges faced by components in a fusion reactor and developments for how to tackle them.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/huw-dawson-8ab57495/

Prof Simon Middleburgh

Professor in Nuclear Materials,

Prof Simon Middleburgh is the Sêr Cymru Professor of Nuclear Materials and co-director of the nuclear futures institute. He is a fellow of the IOM3 and works closely with industry to bridge the academic-industry divide. Previously, Simon worked at Westinghouse, a leading nuclear fuel and reactor manufacturer, as a senior engineer, and before that he worked at ANSTO building a team of experimentally focused modellers to address the Australian government’s nuclear research needs. Simon has built an active manufacturing capability at Bangor University and supports it with world-leading modellers.

 

Abstract: Accelerating advanced nuclear material development and analysis by combining modelling and experimental methods

Bangor University’s Nuclear Futures Institute was initiated in 2017 to grow expertise and train new scientists and engineers in the North Wales region of the UK. Developing new technologies for the nuclear energy has played a central role in the group, linking to our strong international collaborators within universities, national laboratories, and industry - both for fission and fusion. Advanced technology fuels (ATFs), both evolutionary and revolutionary are being developed simultaneously using experimental efforts and through modelling methods, accelerating our understanding towards a commercially viable concept. Similarly, we are exploring novel material concepts that can be used for fusion energy applications. The focus of this presentation will be to highlight the advances made in material concepts that incorporate higher uranium densities, burnable absorbers , high thermal conductivity, radiation damage tolerance or a combination thereof for light water reactors, next generation power reactors, reactors for space exploration and fusion. The experimental techniques applied have an eye to industrial scalability, and the modelling techniques consider not only the materials aspects but
also economics.

: simon-middleburgh-b8967b46

Dr Francesco Fanicchia

Senior Lecturer in High Temperature Surface Engineering, Cranfield University

No bio provided