Global warming, shortage of low-cost oil resources and the increasing demand for energy are currently controlling the world's economic expansion while often opposing desires for sustainable and peaceful development. In this context, atomic energy satisfactorily fulfills the criteria of low carbon gas production and high overall yield. However, in the absence of industrial fast-breeders the use of nuclear fuel is not optimal, and the production of high activity waste materials is at a maximum. These are the principal reasons for the development of a new, fourth generation of nuclear reactors, minimizing the undesirable side-effects of current nuclear energy production technology while increasing yields by increasing operation temperatures and opening the way for the industrial production of hydrogen through the decomposition of water.

The construction and use of such reactors is hindered by several factors, including performance limitations of known structural materials, particularly if the life of the projected systems had to extend over the periods necessary to achieve low costs (at least 60 years).

This book collects lectures and seminars presented at the homonymous NATO ASI held in autumn 2007 at the Institut d'Etudes Scientifiques in Cargèse, France. The adopted approach aims at improving and coordinating basic knowledge in materials science and engineering with specific areas of condensed matter physics, the physics of particle/matter interaction and of radiation damage. It is our belief that this methodology is crucially conditioning the development and the industrial production of new structural materials capable of coping with the requirements of these future reactors.

Inhalt

Foreword. List of Authors. The energy issue and the possible contribution of the various nuclear energy production scenarios; H. Nifenecker.- Outlook on Generation IV Nuclear Systems and related materials R&D challenges; F. Carré et al.- Fundamentals of neutronics: reactivity coefficients in nuclear reactors; P. Reuss.- Introduction to thermodynamics; G. Inden.- Kinetics of phase transformation in multi-component systems; G. Inden.- Ab initio approaches to designing thermodynamics properties of materials; A. Pasturel.- Correlation between electronic structure, magnetism and physical properties of Fe-Cr alloys: ab-initio modeling; I. Abrikosov.- The Computational Modeling of Alloys: From Ab Initio and Thermodynamics to Heterogeneous Precipitation; A. Caro.- Multiscale computer simulations for the study of radiation effects in materials; P. Geysermans.- A multiscale approach to measuring and modeling cleavage fracture toughness in structural steels; G.R. Odette et al.- Microstructures and mechanical properties of irradiated metals and alloys; S.J. Zinkle.- Multiscale modeling of RPV embrittlement; N.Soneda.- Parametric dislocation dynamics and boundary element modeling of elastic interaction between dislocations and precipitates; V.A.Takahashi.- Crystal plasticity from Dislocation Dynamics; V. Bulatov.- Radiation-induced solute segregation in alloys; A. Ardell.- Research and development of oxide dispersion strengthened ferritic steels for sodium cooled fast breeder reactor fuels; M. Inoue.- Some aspects of the structural, mechanical and electronic properties of SiC; P. Pirouz.- Review: Oxidation of SiC/SiC composites in low oxidizing and high temperature environment; C. Cabet.- Fundamentals of liquids; J.P. Hansen.- Introduction to interfaces and diffusion; P. Wynblatt.- Some aspects of wetting at high temperature; D. Chatain and V. Ghetta.- Potentiometric sensors for high temperature liquids; J. Fouletier and V. Ghetta.- Influence of liquid sodium onmechanical properties of steels, refractory alloys and ceramics; H.U. Borgstedt.- Radiation effects in structural materials for fusion power plants: the outcomes of the EU program; J.L. Boutard.- Introduction to the physics of molten salt reactors; E. Merle-Lucotte et al.-Physico-chemical properties of molten salts; J.C. Poignet and J. Fouletier.- Combined effect of molten fluoride salt and irradiation on Ni-based alloys; A.S. Bakai.- Specific features of particule/matter intercation foraccelerator-driven sub-critical reactors; S. Leray.- Operation of high power liquid metal spallation targets: a challenge for the structural materials; J. Henry.