Sir Henry Royce Institute - UKAEA Equipment
Lead Research Organisation:
CCFE/UKAEA
Department Name: Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
Abstract
The UKAEA Materials Research Facility has been funded by EPSRC (as part of the National Nuclear User Facility initiative - NNUF) in response to the UK Governments 2013 Nuclear Industry Strategy. The purpose of the MRF is to provide facilities to process and analyse materials that is too radioactive for university laboratories but do not need to be on a licensed site. It has been agreed that the MRF will have investment from EPSRC as part of the Sir Henry Royce Institute initiative. In 2016/17 these investments will concentrate on mechanical and thermo-physical testing and sample preparation equipment, and adaptation of these for use in hot cells and shielded environments. These investments are in line with requirements identified by universities and industry at the MRF User Workshop held in 2015.
Planned Impact
The Pathways to Impact for this funding will be realised through the collective benefits management activity for the Sir Henry Royce Institute.
Organisations
- CCFE/UKAEA (Lead Research Organisation)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Collaboration)
- University of Manchester (Collaboration)
- EUROfusion (Collaboration)
- Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd (Collaboration)
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON (Collaboration)
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (Collaboration)
- University of California, Berkeley (Collaboration)
- Henry Royce Institute (Collaboration)
- University of Sheffield (Collaboration)
- MATERIALS PROCESSING INSTITUTE (Collaboration)
- Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM (Collaboration)
- Atomic Weapons Establishment (Collaboration)
- University of Helsinki (Collaboration)
- SWANSEA UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- University of Bristol (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Martin O'Brien (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Abernethy R
(2019)
Effects of neutron irradiation on the brittle to ductile transition in single crystal tungsten
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Avotina L
(2020)
Thermal desorption of hydrogen isotopes from the JET Be plasma facing components
in Physica Scripta
Cackett A
(2021)
Effects of radiation damage and precipitate distribution on micro-pillar compression testing of irradiated CuCrZr
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Cackett A
(2018)
Using spherical indentation to measure the strength of copper-chromium-zirconium
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Campbell H
(2023)
Probing Evolution of the Flux-Pinning Landscape in REBCO Coated Conductors Caused by Gamma Irradiation Using DC and AC Magnetometry: A Novel Approach to Tokamak Magnet Material Development
in Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
Carter M
(2022)
On the influence of microstructure on the neutron irradiation response of HIPed SA508 steel for nuclear applications
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Fedorov M
(2023)
Precipitation of Cr-rich clusters in Fe-Cr alloys: Effects of irradiation from first principles modeling and experimental observations
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Fulton G
(2020)
Probing the correlation between phase evolution and growth kinetics in the oxide layers of tungsten using Raman spectroscopy and EBSD
in Corrosion Science
Gaisin R
(2022)
Effect of HIP at 1000-1200 °C on microstructure and properties of extruded Be-Ti composites
in Nuclear Materials and Energy
Gardner H
(2024)
Investigating the thermal and irradiation stability of chemical vapor deposited erbium oxide tritium barrier coatings for Li breeder blanket applications
in Frontiers in Nuclear Engineering
| Description | This grant funds Henry Royce Institute investments at UKAEA's Materials Research Facility, for processing and characterising radioactive material mainly for nuclear energy R&D - it is a 3 year investment programme (2016/17 to 2018/19). Equipment is for a range of mechanical and thermo-physical testing, microscharacterisation, and sample preparation, which all needs to be suitable for use with radioactive samples, requiring substantial shielding, remote operation, and other provisions. Much of the equipment has now been bought and some equipment has been installed in new shielded rooms. There were not enough existing rooms for all the equipment we have or are getting soon, and so Royce funding has been used for additional shielded rooms that are almost complete. Robotic systems for remote sample loading of samples in the equipment (required for the most radioactive samples) have been developed and are close to being implemented. Equipment already bought with Royce funds has been used for non-radioactive and very low activity samples, include use of load-frame for testing tie rods for tiles in JET, tests on materials for accelerators (CERN, Fermilab), and characterisation of materials for fission and fusion, much of this involving university collaborators (including doctoral students). Student training has included handling procedures for active material for Fusion CDT students from Oxford & Manchester, and Imperial Masters student projects on sample polishing processes using Royce-funded equipment to make it suitable for use with radioactive specimens in hot cells. In 2019-20 use of Royce equipment has expanded for UK universities, two SMEs, STFC, NNL, UKAEA's own use and major overseas laboratoires (ITER , ESS, CERN, Fermilab). |
| Sector | Energy,Other |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | A NATIONAL FOCUSED ION BEAM FACILITY FOR ACTIVE MATERIALS |
| Amount | £3,166,215 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/V035584/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2021 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | FaSCiNATe: Facility for the Structural Characterisation of materials for Nuclear Applications operating at high Temperatures |
| Amount | £2,017,068 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/V035851/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2021 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | RadIAEM: Analytical Electron Microscope with In Situ Capability for beta, gamma Active Materials |
| Amount | £2,658,964 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/V035738/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2021 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | Sir Henry Royce Institute - recurrent grant |
| Amount | £23,057,010 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/R00661X/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2016 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | The Royce: Capitalising on the investment |
| Amount | £1,006,681 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/S019367/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2018 |
| End | 10/2021 |
| Title | Equipment for nuclear materials research |
| Description | New equipment to process material too radioactive for a university laboratory but not needing the facilities of a nuclear licensed site. Some of the equipment is fairly standard (micro-characterisation, sample preparation, mechanical and thermal measurements); what is novel is their use for radioactive samples, requiring location in heavily shielded research rooms and hot cells, and remote operation. See https://mrf.ukaea.uk/ |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None yet, it's early days |
| URL | http://www.ccfe.ac.uk/mrf.aspx |
| Description | ANSTO Tactical grant |
| Organisation | Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | £1.5m investment over 3 years |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material irradiation, capsule upgrades |
| Impact | Access to a high temperature neutron irradiation source |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | CCFE - Queen Mary University of London fusion collaboration |
| Organisation | Queen Mary University of London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Joint research on length-scale effects in micromechanical properties of fusion materials. Co-supervision of a PhD student and three undergraduate year-long placements at CCFE. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint research on length-scale effects in micromechanical properties of fusion materials. Co-supervision of a PhD student and three undergraduate year-long placements at CCFE. |
| Impact | Journal papers and conference contributions. Trained students |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | CCFE - Royce Institute |
| Organisation | Henry Royce Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are a partner in the Royce Institute. Note that our Royce capital fiuding (this grant) ended in March 2019, the equipment funded has been developed and some has been implemented. The Royce Institute is reporting centrally including on recurrent funding. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We are a partner in the Royce Institute. The Royce has supported us financially weith recurrent funding for operations, access and training, and also identified new users of our facility (e.g. Edinburgh University). Note that our Royce capital fiuding (this grant) ended in March 2019, the equipment funded has been developed and some has been implemented. The Royce Institute is reporting centrally including on recurrent funding. |
| Impact | Royce is reporting on this |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | CCFE - Univ of California at Berkeley collaboration on nuclear materials |
| Organisation | University of California, Berkeley |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Joint experiments on micro-indentation of materials for nuclear including fusion applications |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint experiments on micro-indentation of materials for nuclear including fusion applications |
| Impact | None yet, experiments in progress |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | CCFE - University of Manchester fusion collaboration |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Joint research on fusion science (plasma, materials and data management) and materials technology. Co-supervision of many students including projects at CCFE (PhD, masters, undergraduate) |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint research on fusion science (plasma, materials and data management) and materials technology. Co-supervision of many students at both Manchester and CCFE. |
| Impact | Various journal papers and conference contributions. Trained students - with career destinations in fusion and other disciplines |
| Description | CCFE - University of Oxford fusion collaboration |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Theory, modelling and experiments on fusion materials. Modelling of fusion plasma physics (e.g. plasma turbulence). Co-supervision of DPhil students and post-docs (on materials science and engineering, plasma theory & modelling, computer algorithms) with projects at both CCFE and Oxford. Provision of facilities for experiments by Oxford students. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Wide-ranging experiments on fusion materials plus some modelling (both materials science and materials engineering). Theory & modelling of fusion plasma physics (especially plasma turbulence) including comparison with experimental data. Co-supervision of DPhil students and post-docs (on materials science and engineering, plasma theory & modelling, computer algorithms) with projects at both CCFE and Oxford. |
| Impact | Many journal papers and conference contributions. Many students have gone onto successful careers in fusion and other disciplines |
| Description | EUROfusion enabling project HEADEMO - Hydrogen isotopes retention in high-entropy alloys |
| Organisation | University of Helsinki |
| Country | Finland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Facility provisions |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material samples and research expertise |
| Impact | Nnoe so far |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Hydrogen isotopes retention in diamond |
| Organisation | University of Bristol |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | use of equipment |
| Collaborator Contribution | Research and PhD supervision, expertise in diamond |
| Impact | None so far |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Hydrogen isotopes retention in erbium |
| Organisation | Atomic Weapons Establishment |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Facility provision |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material and research expertise |
| Impact | None so far |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Hydrogen uptake in reactor pressure vessel steels |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Facility provision |
| Collaborator Contribution | DPhil student and material samples |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Neutron Irradiation of Advanced Steels (NEURONE) |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | ~£12.5m investment over 5 years Preperation, characterisation and testing of radioactive materials. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material production, characterisation, material testing |
| Impact | Non as of yet |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Neutron Irradiation of Advanced Steels (NEURONE) |
| Organisation | Materials Processing Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | ~£12.5m investment over 5 years Preperation, characterisation and testing of radioactive materials. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material production, characterisation, material testing |
| Impact | Non as of yet |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Neutron Irradiation of Advanced Steels (NEURONE) |
| Organisation | Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | ~£12.5m investment over 5 years Preperation, characterisation and testing of radioactive materials. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material production, characterisation, material testing |
| Impact | Non as of yet |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Neutron Irradiation of Advanced Steels (NEURONE) |
| Organisation | Swansea University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | ~£12.5m investment over 5 years Preperation, characterisation and testing of radioactive materials. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material production, characterisation, material testing |
| Impact | Non as of yet |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Neutron Irradiation of Advanced Steels (NEURONE) |
| Organisation | University of Birmingham |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | ~£12.5m investment over 5 years Preperation, characterisation and testing of radioactive materials. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material production, characterisation, material testing |
| Impact | Non as of yet |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Neutron Irradiation of Advanced Steels (NEURONE) |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | ~£12.5m investment over 5 years Preperation, characterisation and testing of radioactive materials. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material production, characterisation, material testing |
| Impact | Non as of yet |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Neutron Irradiation of Advanced Steels (NEURONE) |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | ~£12.5m investment over 5 years Preperation, characterisation and testing of radioactive materials. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material production, characterisation, material testing |
| Impact | Non as of yet |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Neutron Irradiation of Advanced Steels (NEURONE) |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | ~£12.5m investment over 5 years Preperation, characterisation and testing of radioactive materials. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material production, characterisation, material testing |
| Impact | Non as of yet |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Oak Ridge National Labs irradiation of fusion-relevant structural materials |
| Organisation | Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | £3.5m investment over 5 years |
| Collaborator Contribution | Material irradiation, characterisation, testing, secondments and joint publications |
| Impact | none as of yet |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Radiate - Radiation damage in particle accelerators environment |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Active sample handling and characterisation, technique developement |
| Collaborator Contribution | Developement of materials for particle accelerator targets notably LBNF |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Understanding plasma-facing materials degradation with high-resolution characterisation (DPhil project) |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Joint research, PhD student supervision. Material and equipment for the research |
| Collaborator Contribution | Jont research, PhD student supervision |
| Impact | None so far |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | participation in EUROfusion's JET2 work package |
| Organisation | EUROfusion |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Scientific expertise, TDS facility |
| Collaborator Contribution | Scientific expertise |
| Impact | Improved understanding of impact of plasma on JET wall materials |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Development of UK Fusion Materials Road Map and launch at Nuclear Academics Meeting University of Cambridge 7-8 September 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Major study with input from academia and industry of the steps needed to identify and develop materials suitable for various roles in a future fusion power station. See https://www.nuclearuniversities.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/UKAEA-Amanda-Quadling.pdf |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.nuclearuniversities.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/UKAEA-Amanda-Quadling.pdf |
| Description | MRF Outreach |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | We have many visitors to UKAEA's Materials Research Facility (MRF) - this grant has provided major investment in equipment for this facility. We have had several politicians (e.g. Jo Johnson when he was science minister) and senior civil servants (most recently the Government Chief Scientific Advisor, Patrick Vallance) as well as many university and industry visitors. Also some from overseas (e.g. the US DoE). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019 |
| Description | Tour for UK Postgraduates attending the Nuclear Energy (PINE) conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | In September 2018, delegates from this meeting visited the Henry Royce Institute facility at UKAEA, the nuclear Materials Research Facility. Many of these are potential (and a few already existing) users of the facility. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Training event for new materials students in the Fusion Centre for Doctoral Training |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Students doing fusion materials PhD projects at Oxford and Manchester attended for lectures and a tour of UKAEA Materials Research Facility, including training in hot cell procedures. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018 |