Nuclear Energy Material Scientists have been searching for the bias driven swelling equation for over 50 years. While the theoretical basis for the swelling equation was described 45 years ago utilizing mean-field (rate) theory, the animal itself has managed to hide from experimentalists. Foster and Flinn attempted to trap the animal but were only able to capture an empirical version of the beast. About 10 years ago Kalchenko and co-workers set out to track the beast by following its swelling curve as a function of dpa-rate—and they found it—an experimental method fully consistent with rate theory that allows for a swelling equation valid from 10**-2 to 10**-8 dpa/s. Full domestication of the beast remains a challenge.
Michael Fluss holds a B.S. from Rutgers University and a PhD in Nuclear Chemistry from Columbia University. His career spans experimental research in nuclear reaction physics, dosimetry, radiation damage in semiconductors and metals, and solid-state physics. Currently he is a visiting scientist in the Nuclear Energy Department at Berkeley with a focus on accelerated testing of nuclear materials and the fundamental aspects of non-equilibrium radiation environments.
