Abstract: The U.S. Department of Energy has been developing nuclear fuel and cladding candidates with potentially enhanced accident tolerance since the aftermath of the Tōhoku earthquake in 2011. These candidate materials must maintain or improve reactor performance and safety characteristics during normal operation and design basis accidents, while enhancing performance in beyond design basis accidents. This talk presents recent fuel safety research related to reactivity-initiated accidents with advanced cladding materials

Bio: Dr. Nicholas Brown is an Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Brown’s research group focuses on pragmatic interdisciplinary solutions to nuclear science and engineering challenges. He was previously a professor at Penn State University, an R&D staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and a scientific staff member at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, along with about 100 conference publications and national laboratory reports. Dr. Brown earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University.