Publication Date
5-2025
Date of Final Oral Examination (Defense)
12-3-2024
Type of Culminating Activity
Dissertation
Degree Title
Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Science and Engineering
Department
Materials Science and Engineering
Supervisory Committee Chair
Brian J. Jaques, Ph.D.
Supervisory Committee Co-Chair
Monica L. Hubbard, Ph.D.
Supervisory Committee Member
David Estrada, Ph.D.
Supervisory Committee Member
Amy Moll, Ph.D.
Supervisory Committee Member
Michael McMurtrey, Ph.D.
Abstract
At the end of 2023, countries from the United Nations Climate Change Conference announced to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050. The United States makes up approximately 30% of the world’s nuclear capacity; however, only 19% of the energy generated in the Nation is from nuclear power plants. Majority of nuclear reactors are over 40 years old, resulting in reactor closures and no new ones being built. Accordingly, it will be impossible to triple nuclear capacity in the next 25 years by relying on only existing reactors. The nuclear fleet must expand to include advanced reactors to meet energy demand and climate change goals as well as uphold a global competitive edge in the industry as motivated in detail in Chapter One. This dissertation takes a unique approach by combining technical and policy influences to highlight the need for improvements in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) license process to promote and reduce the time to innovate towards advanced reactor construction.
In Chapter Two and Three, this work focuses on the development of real-time monitoring capabilities, specifically digital image correlation (DIC), to reduce the time and costs during reactor inspections. Digital image correlation offers a non-contact, optical method to measure surface deformation of structural nuclear materials; however, DIC also relies on the ability to create high contrast of black and white patterning on the surface of materials to achieve accurate measurements. Chapter Two investigates the use of aerosol jet printing (AJP) to create repetitive and consistent periodic DIC patterns as well as perform room temperature cyclic tensile tests on samples with the additively manufactured DIC patterns. Chapter Three explores high temperature testing (up to 600 °C) with additively manufacturing DIC patterns, the use of multiple inks for pattern fabrication, and the viability of directly printing DIC patterns on substrate surfaces without the need of a color contrasting background layer. Results show the opportunities for pattern control in DIC applications using additive manufacturing, where the operator chooses pattern shape and ink chemistry based on operating environment.
The last part of this dissertation transitions to a policy analysis to investigate recent legislative changes in the nuclear industry as well as pathways for insertion of novel technologies to support policy development. In Chapter Four, advocacy coalition framework is used to analyze the creation and implementation of 10 CFR Part 53, the NRC’s first of its kind licensing framework for non-light water reactors (i.e., advanced reactors). Today, there are multiple private industry leaders developing advanced reactors designs, such as TerraPower and X-Energy, through U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy grant programs. Despite numerous advanced reactor designs under consideration, there are still no company that has been granted the approval for construction. Accordingly, Congress identified the current licensing process as a setback to advanced reactor development and passed the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act in 2019 to influence policy change in the NRC.
The inclusion of a policy analysis in a technical Materials Science and Engineering dissertation exhibits the potential of new technology to support policy changes. In-situ, in-pile strain sensors are critical technologies that would likely improve up-front cost and time involved in the licensing process as well as the construction of advanced reactors through providing real time data to NRC’s design safety computational models.
DOI
10.18122/td.2375.boisestate
Recommended Citation
Novich, Kaelee Ann, "Additively Manufactured DIC Patterns for Extreme Environments and the Emerging Technology Impact on the Licensing of Nuclear Reactors" (2025). Boise State University Theses and Dissertations. 2375.
10.18122/td.2375.boisestate