Innovative Nuclear Materials (INM)

Innovative Nuclear Materials program activities focus on longer-term materials discovery and development for advanced nuclear energy systems applications. It seeks to develop new tools, techniques, and capabilities at national laboratories. The goal is to apply foundational science to accelerate nuclear materials innovation, develop and test innovative new cladding materials with the potential to revolutionize or transform future nuclear energy applications, building on recent advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, theory, modeling, and computing, and advanced characterizations. For example, innovative approaches are needed to develop advanced metallic alloys and composite materials that are optimized to meet new reactor performance targets within the reactor core and fuel cladding. It also includes recycling of zircaloy cladding material, which is the second largest mass in used fuel assemblies. Developing recovery process with sufficient Zr purity to permit re-use will reduce the waste quantity as well as enhance resource utilization. Similar recycling approaches will be developed for other high value nuclear materials.