University of Tennessee receives DOE Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Award

University of Tennessee at Knoxville

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University of Tennessee, Knoxville Nuclear Engineering Associate Professor Khalid Hattar

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Credit: University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is the recipient of a $251,650 nuclear energy infrastructure award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy that will be used to establish an in-situ scanning electron microscopy platform for irradiated materials.

The high resolution and environmental scanning electron microscope with chemical mapping will be used for three purposes:

• the evaluation of small scale, low activity radioactive samples
• post irradiation examination
• in-situ thermal, mechanical, and irradiation experiments

The microscope will be housed in the Tennessee Ion Beam Materials Laboratory (TIBML), which is under the direction of Nuclear Engineering Associate Professor Khalid Hattar. Upon Hattar’s hiring in 2023, the vision for the TIBML was to realize a world-leading capability for evaluating and studying materials performance in extreme environments.

“This DOE infrastructure award represents another step on that journey by providing funds to connect a scanning electron microscope to one of the irradiation beam lines,” said NE Department Head Brian Wirth. “This will add capability to visualize the damage processes occurring in real time, improving knowledge, and providing data to validate models, ultimately leading to improved structural and functional materials to enable significant advancements in nuclear fission and fusion energy production.”

UT was one of 15 university-led infrastructure projects that received DOE awards totaling $5.3 million that are aimed at strengthening America’s nuclear energy workforce, research capabilities, and restoring American’s position as the world’s leading energy producer.

Since 2009, DOE has awarded more than $95 million for university nuclear energy infrastructure projects and upgrades through the DOE’s Infrastructure Program, which is managed by the Nuclear Energy University Program with support from Nuclear Science User Facilities.