Can materials innovation prevent another Fukushima?

John E. Kaye
- Published
- Science

Konstantina Lambrinou of the University of Huddersfield explains why the accelerated development of advanced nuclear materials is the shortest path to safer nuclear energy
The Fukushima Daiichi event in March 2011 demonstrated the need for safer nuclear energy, thus becoming a major driving force for global investments in accident-tolerant fuels (ATFs). The Fukushima event was caused by material failure, i.e., the melting of zirconium-based alloy (zircaloy) fuel claddings during the loss-of-coolant accident following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. The root cause of this failure lies in the runaway oxidation reactions of zircaloys in steam, which is the state of the primary coolant (water) of light water reactors during accidents. These reactions are strongly exothermic, producing copious amounts of heat that can quickly raise temperature, resulting in core meltdown, hydrogen explosion and release of radioactive fission products beyond the site boundary, as observed during the 2011 Fukushima event.
Such events are undesirable due to their detrimental effects on society and environment in the nuclear power plant (NPP) vicinity; moreover, the potential severity of nuclear accidents, albeit rare, discourages the widespread use of nuclear energy, a carbon-free energy that can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of other energy sources and assist humanity in combatting climatic change. As the cause of Fukushima-like events lies in the inherent weaknesses of standard zircaloys, the development of ATF cladding materials that can outperform zircaloys is of paramount importance. The expedited deployment of ATF claddings will not only make nuclear energy safer by buying valuable time needed to resume control of NPPs during accident scenarios but will secure additional economic benefits stemming from the higher achievable levels of fuel burnup and enrichment due to the slower in-reactor corrosion of ATF claddings, thus resulting in longer fuel cycles, lower fuel costs, and better use of nuclear fuel before discarding it in waste.
The HORIZON SCORPION project
The HORIZON SCORPION project is a collaboration of sixteen partners from the EU, the UK, the USA, Japan and Switzerland that focuses on the “revolutionary” SiC/SiC composite ATF cladding material concept. SiC/SiC composites (i.e., SiC fibre-reinforced SiC) exhibit refractoriness (high-temperature stability), pseudo-ductility (damage tolerance; Fig. 1) and a lack of accelerated oxidation during a loss-of-coolant accident.
Despite these advantages, all state-of-the-art SiC/SiC composite variants must still overcome shortcomings such as the inadequate SiC compatibility with water and steam (Figs. 2-3). SCORPION strives for a radical improvement in the performance of SiC/SiC composites via multiscale material tailoring, which entails material re-design on the nanoscale (e.g., grain boundary engineering; Fig. 3), mesoscale (e.g., fibre/matrix interface modification) and macroscale (e.g., coating development) vis-à-vis the ATF application. Such extreme materials tailoring is foreign for the conservative nuclear sector; however, it is requested by the mounting needs in reliable nuclear materials. Accelerated material development (AMD) requires the incessant communication of design, production and performance assessment but is arguably a short and cost-effective path to safer nuclear energy. AMD draws inspiration from different scientific disciplines and uses sophisticated test tools/approaches that can recreate the conditions of the targeted application (Fig. 3).




Prof Dr Konstantina Lambrinou is Professor of Advanced Materials at the School of Computing and Engineering, University of Huddersfield, UK. Her main research interests revolve around the accelerated development of advanced nuclear materials, including ATFs. Prof Lambrinou is the coordinator of HORIZON SCORPION (Grant Agreement No 101059511) and H2020 IL TROVATORE (Grant Agreement No 740415), the European lead of I-NERI PERSEUS, and the technical lead of a Westinghouse GAIN programme on the Cr-coated ATF cladding.
Further information
https://projectscorpion.eu
[email protected]
Acknowledgments: HORIZON SCORPION has received funding from the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025 under Grant Agreement No 101059511.
Sign up to The European Newsletter
RECENT ARTICLES
-
UK businesses increase AI investment despite economic uncertainty, Barclays index finds
-
French CEOs warn politics and geopolitics now threaten bottom lines, ESSEC study finds
-
Study links female-dominated classrooms to higher lifetime earnings for women
-
Inside London’s £1bn super-hotel with £20k penthouses, private butlers and a gilded eagle
-
Kia America hits record monthly sales as EV demand surges
-
Trump family’s crypto debut adds $5bn to fortune amid ethics row
-
Warren Buffett turns 95 – the secrets behind a $130 billion fortune
-
Most game developers now using AI in their workflows, Google Cloud study finds
-
BlackRock takes $89m stake in Freedom Holding, emerging as second-largest shareholder
-
Welcome to Britain’s most exclusive founders’ network with £1M entry bar
-
Portugal’s GR22 crowned Europe’s most rewarding hiking trail
-
Music faces a bum note without elephant dung, new research warns
-
Fermi America secures $350m in financing led by Macquarie Group
-
Cambodia to rename key highway after Donald Trump for brokering peace deal
-
Want your business to succeed? Start with your own wellbeing, say SME leaders
-
The five superyacht shows that matter most
-
Short circuit: humanoids go for gold at first 'Olympics for robots'
-
Return to sender? Royal Mail’s red boxes go high-tech
-
New IBM–NASA AI aims to forecast solar flares before they knock out satellites or endanger astronauts
-
Uber plots Channel Tunnel disruption with app-bookable high-speed trains
-
Global tech leaders back Nigeria’s $1 trillion digital ambition at GITEX Nigeria 2025
-
Scientists are racing to protect sea coral with robots and AI as heatwaves devastate reefs
-
Game, set...wax. Billie Jean King statue unveiled in New York
-
Vegas on a losing streak as visitors drop 11%
-
The European launches new Digital Content Exchange Network