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A research team at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Tennessee, USA, has reached a significant milestone in nuclear research by successfully designing, manufacturing, and testing an additively manufactured specimen capsule for use in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). This breakthrough marks the first-ever use of Additive Manufacturing (AM) to produce a rabbit capsule, a vital component in nuclear fuels and materials research.

Successful Test in High-Neutron Flux Reactor Environment

The specimen capsule, known as a rabbit capsule, is used to hold experiments undergoing irradiation in test reactors. To prove the potential of AM in nuclear applications, ORNL employed a Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) AM machine to manufacture a stainless-steel capsule. This capsule was assembled, loaded, sealed, and then exposed to a high neutron flux environment inside the HFIR for nearly a month. Remarkably, the capsule successfully withstood the harsh conditions of the reactor.

Richard Howard, group lead for irradiation engineering at ORNL, emphasized the importance of the achievement, stating, “This is a significant step toward demonstrating that Additive Manufacturing can be used to develop and qualify specialized components that cannot be conventionally machined.”

Looking ahead, ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility Director, Ryan Dehoff, highlighted the broader implications of the successful test, saying, “As we demonstrate the reliability of these printed components, we’re looking at a future where Additive Manufacturing might become standard practice in producing other critical reactor parts.”

Paving the Way for Future Nuclear Applications

Following the successful test, ORNL plans to conduct post-irradiation evaluation of the capsule to further assess its performance. The successful use of AM in this application is expected to accelerate the adoption of AM technologies in safety-critical components across the nuclear energy sector and other highly regulated industries. The research team aims to leverage the design flexibility of AM to create more complex, optimized components that would be difficult to fabricate with conventional methods.

This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies program, which focuses on advancing the commercialization of new materials and manufacturing technologies.