Emily Wackan

Materials for nuclear fission reactors remain a key area of research, especially as we move towards cleaner and greener sources of energy. Most suitable for these applications are Ni-base superalloys, which display excellent high temperature properties, which have been developed and capitalised upon throughout their applications in the aerospace industry. My research focusses on the characterisation of Inconel 617 using atom probe tomography, which has recently been listed as a candidate material for use in the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) design of upcoming Gen IV fission reactors. This research focusses on variation in microstructure after thermal ageing and self-ion irradiation, and relating these findings to existing data on variation in mechanical properties. This is in collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and builds on their work to characterise this material with SANS