Assessment of Radiation damage and Transmutation Helium Effects on structural
reactor materials via MIcromechanical testing and advanced analysis methods
About Project
The ARTHEMIS project addresses one of the key challenges in the development of next-generation nuclear systems: the degradation of structural materials under extreme irradiation and high-temperature conditions. The project focuses on understanding the impact of helium accumulation, radiation damage, and corrosion processes on advanced alloys and coatings, and developing strategies to improve their performance and lifetime.
Project Objectives
- Develop irradiation strategies or creating thick, uniformly damaged layers with controlled helium concentrations.
- Perform ion-irradiation experiments and characterize the resulting layers using hardness tests and microstructural analysis.
- Conduct micromechanical testing to determine how helium affects the mechanical performance and embrittlement of candidate steels for advanced nuclear systems.
- Investigate synergistic effects of radiation and the supercritical water environment on alloy 800H and coated variants.
Collaboration
The ARTHEMIS project brings together leading partners from academia and research institutions, combining expertise in ion beam analysis, materials qualification, nuclear engineering, and micromechanical testing.
Contact
Advanced Technology Research Institute (ATRI), MTF STU
Project Coordinator: Zoltan Szaraz, zoltan.szaraz@stuba.sk
Funding
This project has received funding from the European Union’s NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia under project No. 09I03-03-V04-
00384.