Dr Felicity Worsnop - Imperial College London

Research Fellowships 2024

Dr Felicity Worsnop’s Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship targets progress in key materials for nuclear reactors. This research at Imperial College London will accelerate developments for the UK’s growing nuclear sector and support steps towards the sustainable energy landscape of the future.

Fission power is expected to generate 25% of UK electricity by 2050 and is a key enabler to bring more renewables onto the grid. The UK is poised to be a global leader in small modular reactors and seeks to extend fuel assembly lifetimes in its existing rectors, alongside ongoing conventional reactor build projects. Key to these goals is understanding corrosion in zirconium (Zr) alloy fuel cladding and developing engineering solutions to prevent it.

Irradiation–corrosion interactions in existing alloys are not well understood, partly because of experimental challenges in quantifying hydrogen within corroded microstructures. Novel alloy design is also needed to deliver a step change in corrosion performance and there are unconventional but promising alloying elements still under-explored.

Using Imperial’s new cryo-characterisation suite, Dr Worsnop will build a detailed understanding of corrosion and irradiation behaviour in current alloys. She will explore novel Zr alloy systems with the potential for significantly improved performance.

Alongside fission, the UK is a leader in fusion technology. Thermal management is crucial in fusion reactors, but current copper alloys lose mechanical integrity in the most demanding applications. Higher temperature and heat flux capability is needed beyond today’s CuCrZr and CuCrNb alloys, alongside consideration of irradiation and corrosion resistance. This work will investigate degradation mechanisms in copper alloys and build towards development of more capable materials for fusion and other heat transfer applications.

In summary, by using newly developed characterisation methods, her research will create insights into the fundamental mechanisms controlling alloy resilience in harsh reactor environments, driving development of better materials for sustainable nuclear energy.

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