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A funded 3.5-year UK PhD studentship is available at the University of Birmingham with a tax-free stipend. The project is co-funded by the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Tritium Fuel Cycle Division and will be collaborated with world-leading institutes in the US, France and Germany. About the project: Background: Future fusion energy concepts such as ITER, DEMO or STEP rely upon deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reaction, which holds the promise of generating limitless clean energy. But tritium availability on earth is scarce (less than 30 kg), making it a very expensive fuel, and tritium is a radiological hazard. Therefore, understanding in-service pathways of tritium loss and proper tritium accountancy is crucial to the success of future fusion energy systems.
A key challenge is tritium can be trapped strongly by radiation-induced and plasma-induced microstructural defects under fusion-relevant extreme environments. For fusion structural material candidates like RAFM steels, ODS alloys, V alloys, Cu alloys etc, these defects are vacancy-type/interstitial-type 2D extended defects and high concentration of 3D gas-stabilized helium (He)-vacancy clusters, and He-filled cavities. The origin of this He is from (n, α) nuclear transmutation reaction of 14 MeV neutrons from D-T fusion. Further, He will also be introduced directly from the plasma in W-based plasma-facing components (PFCs).
We believe vacancy clusters and He-filled cavities would be the major tritium traps in fusion in-vessel components. Due to this, serious concerns remain on two overarching issues: firstly, tritium trapped in materials is deleterious to fuel self-sufficiency requirement of a fusion power plant (i.e. if excess tritium stays trapped then fusion can’t happen) and the second concern is safety in the case of a loss of vacuum accident (LOVA) where tritium trapped in components may be released to the environment. Therefore, it is essential to ensure minimal tritium retention occurs, which necessitates a thorough understanding of hydrogen isotope interaction with microstructural defects in fusion materials
The Project: This PhD will study the effect of irradiation-induced and plasma-induced microstructure degradation on tritium trapping in fusion first-wall/blanket and PFCs. The study will focus on the synergistic effect of He-filled cavity formation and irradiation-induced extended defect formation to target the following specific questions :
(i) Understanding the role of He-bubble formation on tritium trapping under synergistic irradiation and plasma loading conditions in PFC candidates (pure W and additively manufactured W alloys).
(ii) Understanding of the effect of size, and concentration of He-filled cavities and He/dpa ratio on tritium trapping in first-wall/blanket materials (RAFM, ODS steels) Supervision and International Collaborations: You will be based at the University of Birmingham and will be co-supervised by the UKAEA’s Tritium Fuel Cycle division (https://ccfe.ukaea.uk/divisions/h3at). This project will involve multi-national collaborators, and so you will have a unique opportunity to work with renowned experts from world-recognized institutes such as Oak Ridge National Lab/University of Tennessee in the US, CEA-Cadarache & University of Paris-Saclay in France and Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany.
At the university you will work in a diverse, inclusive, and collaborative environment that nurtures excellence and innovation to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges, such as fusion energy. Besides targeting academic success, this PhD will provide you the necessary mentorship so that you can have a prosperous post-PhD career. Who we are looking for: A first or upper-second-class degree in an appropriate discipline such as, materials science and engineering, nuclear engineering, chemical engineering, physics, plasma-physics, or mechanical engineering. No prior experience is mandatory. Some knowledge of nuclear materials and/or mechanical/microstructural characterisation, fission/fusion basics would be advantageous. A driven individual with an inquisitive mind.
Contact: Informal inquiries should be sent to Professor Arunodaya Bhattacharya – a.bhattacharya.1@bham.ac.uk and/or Dr. Rosemary Brown – rosemary.brown@ukaea.uk. Please include your CV and transcripts.
The project is co-funded by the UKAEA's Tritium Fuel Cycle division.
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