Nuclear energy harnesses the power of atomic interactions, whether through the fission of large nuclei or the fusion of light elements. Additive manufacturing (AM) can play several roles in this sector and is actively being researched and applied, although challenges remain. This article provides a discussion of the opportunities, challenges, and example use cases of AM in the nuclear and wind energy sectors.

Nuclear power plants benefit from thermal spray coatings for corrosion and erosion minimization and dimensional restoration of worn parts. This article provides a detailed discussion on the advantages of thermal spray coatings, fission reactor component coatings, and coatings for nuclear fuel processing before and after irradiation for power plant applications. Nuclear fusion research is divided into two primary fields of study categorized by the method for confining the fusion fuel: magnetic confinement fusion and inertial confinement fusion.

This article focuses on the environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) of structural materials in boiling water reactors (BWRs), reactor pressure vessels, core internals, and ancillary piping. It discusses the effects of water chemistry on materials degradation, mitigation approaches, and their impact on aging management programs. The article reviews the effects of materials, environment, and stress factors on the cracking susceptibility of ferritic and austenitic structural alloys in BWRs. It describes the methods, such as data-based life-prediction approaches and mechanisms-informed life-prediction approaches, for predicting cracking kinetics in BWRs. The article provides information on several EAC mitigation techniques for BWR components, namely material solutions, stress solutions, and environmental solutions.

Surface coatings are essential in all facilities that process nuclear materials or use nuclear fission for power generation. This article describes the coatings used in two basic types of Generation 3 nuclear reactor designs in the United States and their containment size. These reactors are the boiling water reactor (BWR) and pressurized water reactor (PWR). The article provides information on the loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) identified as the design basis accident (DBA), which can rapidly de-water the core of an operating nuclear reactor. To avoid LOCA, both the BWR and the PWR include emergency core cooling systems. The article describes a DBA test and other coating performance parameters necessary for safety-related coating systems. It provides a detailed account of the selection criteria of coating types in a nuclear plant. The article concludes by highlighting protective coating strategies in Generation 3 Plants.

This article provides information on the liquid lithium systems that are exposed to liquid metal. It discusses the forms in which liquid-metal corrosion is manifested. The influence of several key factors on the corrosion of metals and alloys by liquid-metal systems or liquid-vapor metal coolants is described. Some information on safety precautions for handling liquid metals, operating circulating systems, dealing with fire and spillage, and cleaning contaminated components, are also provided.

This article examines a type of corrosion that occurs when solids (primarily metals) are exposed to liquid metal environments. It describes the principle mechanisms of liquid metal corrosion, including dissolution, impurity and interstitial reactions, alloying, and compound reduction. It also provides guidelines for materials selection and alloy development based on liquid metal corrosion reactions.

Radioanalysis is an analytical technique that uses energy emitted by radioactive isotopes to measure the concentration of related elements in test samples. This article begins with a discussion on the principles of radioactive decay and various forms of emission, including alpha and beta-particle emission, positron emission, and gamma and x-ray emission. It compares and contrasts measurement techniques based on various detectors, namely, charged-particle detectors, photon detectors, counting and recording instruments, and radioactive decay spectrometers. It also addresses sample preparation, equipment and process safety, and the handling of radioactive gasses and materials. The article concludes with application examples involving the analysis of rare-earth elements and nuclear fuels.

Paints and protective coatings are the most common means of protecting materials from deterioration. This article focuses on coating degradation that results from the environmental interaction with the coatings. The major environmental influences of the degradation include energy (solar radiation, heat and temperature variation, and nuclear radiation), permeation (moisture, solvent retention, chemical, and oxygen), stress (drying and curing, vibration, and impact and abrasion), and biological influences (microbiological and macrobiological).

Ternary molybdenum chalcogenides stands for a vast class of materials, whose general formula is MxMO6X8, where, M is a cation and X is a chalcogen (sulfur, selenium, or tellurium). Possible applications of some of these are as high field superconductors (that is, >20 T, or 200 kG). This article discusses the fabrication methods of PbMo6S8 (PMS) and SnMo6S8 (SMS), including hot processing and cold processing. It provides a short note on the superconducting properties of PMS wire filaments and their applications in processes requiring high magnetic fields, such as high-energy physics, thermonuclear fusion, and nuclear magnetic resonance.

Electron spin resonance (ESR), or electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), is an analytical technique that can extract a great deal of information from any material containing unpaired electrons. This article explains how ESR works and where it applies in materials characterization. It describes a typical ESR spectrometer and explains how to tune it to optimize critical electromagnetic interactions in the test sample. It also identifies compounds and elements most suited for ESR analysis and explains how to extract supplementary information from test samples based on the time it takes electrons to return to equilibrium from their resonant state. Two of the most common methods for measuring this relaxation time are presented as are several application examples.

Radionuclide methods for wear measurement are used to measure wear continuously throughout a tribological experiment at a resolution of nanometers or micrograms per hour. This article presents an overview of radionuclide methods for wear measurement. It discusses complementary wear measurement methods to introduce the advantages of using radioactive isotopes (RI) for wear or corrosion measurements in comparison to other methods. The article provides information on radiation safety regulations and approaches to minimize external radiation exposure. It describes neutron activation, thin layer or surface layer activation, and ultrathin layer or recoil activation that are used to create radioactive isotopes in the samples to be tested. The article reviews the two common types of wear measurement setup configurations: the direct method and the indirect method. It concludes with a discussion on the practical application of wear measurement using radioactive isotopes.

This article examines the understanding of persistent material changes produced in stainless alloys during light water reactor (LWR) irradiation based on the fundamentals of radiation damage and existing experimental measurements. It summarizes the overall trends and correlations for irradiation-assisted stress-corrosion cracking. The article addresses the effects of various radiation factors on corrosion. These include radiation-induced segregation at grain boundaries, radiation hardening, mode of deformation, radiation creep relaxation, and radiolysis. The article discusses a variety of approaches for mitigating stress-corrosion cracking in LWRs, in categories of water chemistry, operating guidelines, new alloys, design issues, and stress mitigation. It concludes with a discussion on the irradiation effects of irradiation on corrosion of zirconium alloys in LWR environments.

This article focuses on the application of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in materials science, especially for inorganic and organic polymer solids. It begins with a discussion on the general principles of NMR, providing information on nuclear spin descriptions and line narrowing and spectral resolution and describing the impact of magnetic field on nuclear spins and the factors determining resonance frequency. This is followed by a description of various systems and equipment necessary for NMR spectroscopy. A discussion on general sampling for solid-state NMR, sample-spinning requirements, and extraneous signals is then included. Various factors pertinent to accurate calibration of the NMR spectrum are also described. The article provides information on some of the parameters both beneficial and problematic for processing NMR data. It ends with a description of the applications of NMR in glass science and ceramics.

The Mossbauer effect (ME) is a spectroscopic method for observing nuclear gamma-ray fluorescence based on recoil-free transitions in a nucleus embedded in a solid lattice. This article provides an overview of the fundamental principles of ME and related concepts such as recoil-free fraction, absorption cross section, gamma-ray polarization, isomer shift, and quadrupole and magnetic interactions. It illustrates the experimental arrangement for obtaining ME spectra and presents several application examples.

The Mossbauer effect (ME) is a spectroscopic method for observing nuclear gamma-ray fluorescence using the recoil-free transitions of a nucleus embedded in a solid lattice. This article provides an overview of the fundamental principles of ME, covering recoil-free fraction, absorption, selection rules, gamma-ray polarization, isomer shift, quadrupole interaction, and magnetic interaction. Experimental arrangement for obtaining ME spectra is described and several examples of the applications of ME are presented. The article contains tables listing some properties of Mossbauer transitions and principal methods used for producing ME sources.

Damage to steels from neutron irradiation affects the properties of steels and is an important factor in the design of safe and economical components for fission and fusion reactors. This article discusses the effects of high-energy neutrons on steels. The effects of damage caused by neutron irradiation include swelling (volume increase), irradiation hardening, and irradiation embrittlement (the influence of irradiation hardening on fracture toughness). These effects are primarily associated with high-energy (greater than 0.1 MeV) neutrons. Consequently, irradiation damage from neutrons is of considerable importance in fast reactors, which produce a significant flux of high-energy neutrons during operation. Irradiation embrittlement must also be considered in the development of ferritic steels for fast reactors and fusion reactors. Although ferritic steels are more resistant to swelling than austenitic steels, irradiation may have a more critical effect on the mechanical properties of ferritic steels.

This article discusses the main materials and water chemistry characteristics of the primary and secondary water circuits of a pressurized water reactor (PWR). It reviews the corrosion issues of PWR materials and the influence of corrosion and fouling on primary and secondary circuit radiation fields. The article explains the primary side intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) in different materials, namely, nickel-base alloys, high-strength nickel-base alloys, low-strength austenitic stainless steels, and high-strength stainless steels. The secondary side corrosion in steam generator including denting, pitting, intergranular attack and IGSCC is also discussed. The article examines laboratory studies that have resulted in models and computer codes for evaluating and predicting intergranular corrosion, and considers the remedial actions for preventing or arresting intergranular corrosion. It concludes with information on the external bolting corrosion in nuclear power reactors.

The components used in light water reactors (LWR) often remain in contact with the primary coolant, whose typical temperatures and pressures are highly aggressive, therefore, initiating corrosion in most of the alloys. This article describes the corrosion behavior of zirconium alloys in water and heat flow conditions that causes irradiation on the zirconium alloy assemblies. It discusses the effect of irradiation on the microstructure and morphology of cladded linings. The article describes the impact of metallurgical parameters on the oxidation resistance of zirconium alloys. It concludes with a discussion on LWR coolant chemistry and corrosion of fuel rods in reactors.