NPRE PhD Xiang Liu wins 2018 ANS Mark Mills Award

Xiang Liu, who earned his PhD in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering in May, is the 2018 winner of the American Nuclear Society Mark Mills Award.

The national award recognizes the graduate student author who submits the best original technical paper contributing to the advancement of science and engineering related to the atomic nucleus. Liu currently is a postdoctoral researcher in the Characterization and Advanced Post-Irradiation Examination Division at Idaho National Laboratory.

Liu focused his research on understanding how different types of irradiation affects the microstructural evolution in advanced reactor candidate alloys, and how these radiation-induced microstructural changes affect the material property. An example is shown in the accompanying image, in which Liu was able to characterize nano-sized radiation-induced dislocation loops and precipitates in an advanced austenitic stainless steel using advanced electron microscopy and atom probe tomography techniques. These nano-sized features are important for the understanding of the atomic origins of degradation in material property caused by irradiation.The goal of the work is to lead to new designs of radiation-resistant materials that address the U.S. Department of Energy mission in advanced reactor technologies.

According to Liu’s advisor, NPRE Prof. Jim Stubbins, Liu’s work resulted in some of the first reports on the neutron and ion irradiation performance of various advanced alloys for reactor application, and showed important links between the materials’ microstructure developed under irradiation and the materials’ structural performance. The work also identified new materials phases or precipitates in the neutron irradiated materials that cannot be found under ion irradiation condition.

 

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