Assessment of Cold Spray Technology for Nuclear Power Applications

Mitigation and repair of stress corrosion cracking and other types of corrosion—this is just one of several potential applications for cold spray (CS) technology in the nuclear power industry. The applications were outlined in a new report by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), produced for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which provides an overview of CS technology as it relates to repair and fabrication of metal alloys in the nuclear power industry.

CS is a relatively new technology with applications established in other industries (e.g., aerospace, defense), and greater use of CS is anticipated within the nuclear power industry. CS can deposit material with improved properties, such as wear and corrosion resistance, to enhance performance and extend the service life of new and existing components. PNNL prepared its report in support of NRC’s Action Plan for Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMTs) Rev. 1, which includes objectives to identify the AMTs most likely to be used for nuclear power applications that require NRC approval, and to prepare NRC staff to review regulatory submittals containing components manufacturing using AMTs.

In addition to providing an overview of CS technology and its potential applications in nuclear power industry, the report also highlights engineering and scientific knowledge gaps of CS and rates the size of the knowledge gaps. It also assesses importance rankings of the knowledge gaps as they relate to several application categories. The combination of a knowledge gap size rating and importance ranking for an application can be used to prioritize additional data or information gathering efforts.

Questions?

Ken Ross
 Materials Research Engineer
 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
 Solid Phase Processing – Additive

(509) 375-6513 Office

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To view the Assessment of Cold Spray Technology for Nuclear Power Applications document in its entirety, please visit https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML21263A107 or download the TLR Assessment of Cold Spray Technology for Nuclear Power Applications pdf file from September 2021.