Engineering Commons^™

Determination Of Zirconium Oxide Chemistry Through Complementary Characterization Techniques, Corey M. Efaw, Reynolds Michael, Jordan L. Vandegrift, Kassiopeia Smith, Yaqiao Wu, Brian J. Jaques, Hongqiang Hu, Claire Xiong, Michael F. Hurley

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nuclear energy has been increasingly recognized as an effective and low carbon-emission energy source. Nuclear reactors are susceptible to adverse effects, which can lead to potentially severe consequences, though they are low in probability. To ensure safety and improved monitoring of reactors, there have been increasing interests in developing sensors to monitor key parameters relating to the status within a reactor. In order to improve sensor accuracy, high-resolution characterization of cladding materials can be utilized to correlate with sensor output. A common issue with zirconium cladding is the so-called "breakaway phenomenon", a critical factor seen as the transition from an …