Related papers: Helium bubbles in liquid lithium: a potential issu…
Fusion energy stands out as a promising alternative for a future decarbonised energy system. To be sustainable, future fusion nuclear reactors will have to produce their own tritium. In the so-called breeding blanket of a reactor, the…
The extremely low solubility of helium in liquid metals may lead to rapid supersaturation, promoting spontaneous formation of helium bubbles by nucleation. Once nucleated, the stability of these bubbles is governed by the properties of the…
The solubility of helium in liquid metals is a knowledge of fundamental importance in the design of the future nuclear fusion reactors, since the formation of helium bubbles inside the breeding blankets of the reactors can be a threat to…
Helium bubbles nucleation and growth in metals or metal tritide is a long-standing problem attracting considerable attention in nuclear industry but the mechanism remains indistinct and predicting the growth rate of helium bubble is…
Helium (He) nucleation in liquid metal breeding blankets of a DT fusion reactor may have a significant impact regarding system design, safety and operation. Large He production rates are expected due to tritium (T) fuel self-sufficiency…
This manuscript embarks on an inquiry into the influence of helium implantation on nanocrystalline tungsten, a contender for plasma-facing components (PFCs) in nuclear fusion reactors. The study underscores the inevitability of helium…
The formation and growth of helium bubbles due to self-irradiation in plutonium has been modelled by a discrete kinetic equations for the number densities of bubbles having $k$ atoms. Analysis of these equations shows that the bubble size…
When an electron (or positronium atom) is injected into liquid helium with nearly zero energy, a bubble quickly forms around it. This phenomenon (which also occurs in liquid hydrogen, liquid neon and possibly in solid helium) lowers the…
We have used a Hartree-type electron-helium potential together with a density functional description of liquid $^4$He and $^3$He to study the explosion of electron bubbles submitted to a negative pressure. The critical pressure at which…
Helium bubbles can form in materials upon exposure to irradiation. It is well known that the presence of helium bubbles can cause changes in the mechanical behavior of materials. To improve the lifetime of nuclear components, it is…
The production of energy through nuclear fusion poses serious challenges related to the stability and performance of materials in extreme conditions. In particular, the constant bombardment of the walls of the reactor with high doses of He…
The present work intend to be a first step towards the understanding and quantification of the hydrogen isotope complex phenomena in liquid metals for nuclear technology. Liquid metals under nuclear irradiation in,e.g., breeding blankets of…
Materials used in commercial D-T fusion reactors will be exposed to irradiation and a mixture of helium and hydrogen plasma. Modeling the microstructural evolution of such materials requires the use of large-scale molecular dynamics…
The impact of nucleating gas bubbles in the form of a dispersed gas phase on hydrogen isotope permeation at interfaces between liquid metals, like LLE, and structural materials, like stainless steel, has been studied. Liquid metal to…
The $1s^2->1s2p(^1P)$ excitation in confined and compressed helium atoms in either the bulk material or encapsulated in a bubble is shifted to energies higher than that in the free atom. For bulk helium, the energy shifts predicted from…
Equilibrium properties of hydrogen-helium mixtures under conditions similar to the interior of giant gas planets are studied by means of first principle density functional molecular dynamics simulations. We investigate the molecular and…
A known issue for future nuclear reactors is helium accumulation inside the steel structure materials, responsible for structural issues such as embrittlement and cracking. One possible solution is using new types of reinforced steel, such…
The stability of multielectron bubbles (MEBs) in liquid helium is investigated using the liquid-drop model for fissioning nuclei. Whereas a critical positive pressure can make the bubble unstable against fissioning, a small negative…
The accumulation of helium bubbles at grain boundaries (GBs) critically degrades the mechanical integrity of structural materials in nuclear reactors. While GBs act as sinks for radiation-induced defects, their inherent structural…
We have investigated the formation of helium droplets in two physical situations. In the first one, droplets are atomised from superfluid or normal liquid by a fast helium vapour flow. In the second, droplets of normal liquid are formed…