The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, which has one of the best nuclear engineering programs in the country, has been awarded a $20 million grant from the US Department of Energy to revolutionize the design and manufacturing of high-performance materials for fusion energy systems.
UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair for Nuclear Materials Steve Zinkle is the lead on the project, known as the Integrated Materials Program to Accelerate Chamber Technologies (IMPACT).
One of the biggest challenges in making fusion energy commercially viable is the lack of nuclear-code-qualified high-temperature structural materials that can be used in fusion reactors, Zinkle explained. IMPACT aims to create a process and database for the first-ever American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler & Pressure Vessel code qualification for a fusion material and to demonstrate how these new materials can more quickly move from code qualification to engineering application.
“We are excited to embark on this ambitious program,” Zinkle said. “Our assembled multidisciplinary team includes experts with a demonstrated track record of using science-based methods to rapidly design, fabricate and deploy advanced structural materials.”
Read more about IMPACT as well as DOE’s Fusion Innovation Research Engine Collaboratives.