Fuel Retention and Release Mechanisms in Breeder Blanket Materials for Nuclear Fusion Devices

With climate change driving a desire to move towards a low-carbon/carbon-free energy landscape, power generated from nuclear fusion offers a high-capacity, baseload electricity generation for the future. This is exemplified by the UK’s flagship fusion power programme – the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme. The successful deployment of STEP and subsequent power devices will depend on the maturation of emerging technologies such as the breeder blanket and fuel cycle, (BBFC) and the development of advanced materials systems that underpin these technologies.

The fuel used in fusion power devices is a mixture of deuterium and tritium – both isotopes of hydrogen. This project will focus on the investigation of the behaviour, retention, and release of these isotopes from materials that are of potential interest in the breeder blanket systems; and how this will evolve under the highly dynamic in-operando conditions influenced by the intense neutron irradiation and high temperatures.

Candidate breeder blanket materials such as Eurofer97, 14YWT (a nanostructured ferritic alloy), vanadium alloys, and model iron-chrome alloys will be exposed to low Z elements that are of relevance to the fusion fuel cycle, including deuterium, using the University of Manchester’s DELPHI-II (Device for Exposure to Low-energy Plasma of Hydrogen Isotopes), and the molten salt FLiBe through industrial partnerships, e.g. UKAEA. Radiation damage of the materials will be simulated through the use of energetic ion beams as a proxy for neutron damage. The primary objective of this research is to understand how local microstructural features exposed to intense radiation fields and significant corrosion environments impact the retention and release behaviour of materials. This is a critical need for the design of the BBFC system, and has the potential to impact BBFC technologies moving forward.

Analysis will be conducted using thermal desorption spectroscopy, NanoSIMS and electron microscopy. NanoSIMS will map the surface distribution of deuterium, lithium, fluorine and beryllium and link their distribution to microstructural features providing new insight into the effects of surface defects, radiation damage, inclusions and grain boundaries on the retention of these elements with a view to determine the expected fuel retention of fusion reactors over their lifetime.

Admissions qualifications / requirements

Applicants are expected to hold, or about to obtain, a minimum upper second class undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in materials science or a physical science/engineering subject such as physics or chemical engineering. A Masters level degree in a relevant subject and/or relevant industrial experience in materials science is desirable but not essential. 

Duration of funding / project

3.5 years

Application deadline

Applications accepted all year round however applications will be looked at on an ongoing basis and once a student has been found, the position will be closed.

Proposed start date 

September 2024

EDI statement

Equality, diversity and inclusion is fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and is at the heart of all of our activities. We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact. We actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and backgrounds and from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status.

We also support applications from those returning from a career break or other roles. We consider offering flexible study arrangements (including part-time: 50%, 60% or 80%, depending on the project/funder).