Dr. Jinsuo Zhang, Prof. of Nuclear Engineering, VT, will give a talk entitled "Fuel-Cladding Chemical Interactions: Mechanisms and Mitigation"

November 14, 2025

@10:10 am, 440 Goodwin Hall, Blacksburg (in-person); 6-051, VTRC, Arlington
For remote access, click here

Abstract
The development of advanced fast reactors such as sodium cooled fast reactors (SFRs) has gained significant interest. For example, TerraPower is building a NatriumTM SFR in Wyoming. In the US, the typical SFR fuels are sodium (Na) bonded U-10Zr (wt.%) based metallic fuels with HT9 ferritic-martensitic stainless-steel cladding. U-Zr-based metallic fuels have many advantages over traditional UO2 oxide fuels such as good thermal conductivity, ease of fuel recycling, and inherent safety. However, U-Zr fuels are susceptible to fuel-cladding chemical interaction (FCCI), which is one of major safety concerns for SFRs to reach high burnups (> 10 at.%). FCCI includes both U-cladding interaction and lanthanide-cladding interaction. Lanthanide (Ln) fission products such as Nd, Ce, Pr, La can migrate quickly from the fuel to the cladding during reactor operation. They can react with alloying elements in cladding such as Fe to form a complicated, multi-phase region that puts both the fuel and cladding at risk. This seminar will discuss FCCI mechanisms and methods for FCCI mitigations. The mitigation methods include using additives to immobilize fission products, optimizing the fuel composition and applying corrosion-resistant coatings to mitigate interactions at fuel/cladding interface.

Bio
Prof. Jinsuo Zhang is the director of the Nuclear Materials and Fuel Cycle Center at Virginia Tech. Before he joined Virginia Tech, he was an associate professor at The Ohio State University from 09/2012 to 12/2016 and was a staff scientist from 09/2004 to 08/2012 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. His research focuses on nuclear material chemistry and degradation and their control for advanced nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel reprocessing systems.