TOMSK, September 28. /TASS/. Researchers at Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and Chinese scientists created a method for quickly determining the radiation resistance of materials used in the design of a nuclear reactor. The method has no analogues in the world, the press service of the university told reporters on Monday.
The development solves the problem of a quick test for radiation resistance of materials of a nuclear reactor structure, due to the deformation of which a nuclear reaction can lose control, which can lead to an explosion of the reactor. The existing methods of testing the radiation resistance of materials take several years, which slows down the development of technologies.
"Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University have proposed a new method for determining the radiation resistance of materials using beams of accelerated atoms. Simulation irradiation with such beams repeats the effect of neutron radiation from a nuclear reactor on a material in a minimum time, which makes it possible to predict more reliably how resistant the material is to radiation. The developed tool has no analogues in the world ", the statement reads.
The method developed by Tomsk scientists allows, due to the irradiation of materials with beams of accelerated atoms, to reduce the verification time from several years to several hours. "In addition, the mechanisms of the formation of radiation defects in metals under irradiation with accelerated atoms and neutrons are very close. This makes it possible to increase the research's reliability," said Alexander Pushkarev, one of the researchers, professor of the TPU Department of Materials Science.
Furthermore, the experts will research the generation of neutron beams not in a nuclear reactor, but in a generator of beams of accelerated atoms they have developed. This will allow to reduce the size of the generator while increasing the intensity of the neutron beam. Also, these neutron beams can be applied in medicine.