CHARACTERIZATION OF METALLIC AND CERAMIC HIGH-TEMPERATURE MATERIALS FOR ENERGY-SYSTEMS BY MEANS OF ATOMIC SPECTROSCOPY

In nuclear and non-nuclear energy systems high-temperature alloys and structural ceramics are used. The development and characterization of high temperature materials for use in advanced high temperature gas-cooled reactors, in metallic and ceramic high temperature heat exchanger components and in Tokamak fusion reactor designs are reported. In these areas, the development of materials,in general, and materials characterization using modern physico-chemical methods, in particular, are crucial. The investigations for the high temperature reaction (HTR) are concentrated on the optimization and the verification of the long time behaviour of the materials. In the field of high resistant structural materials, the oxidation and corrosion mechanisms and the stability of protective scales and coatings are of high importance. The fusion reactor materials work is concerned with fundamental development stages and with plasma-wall interactions. It is for the characterization of materials and for investigation of reaction mechanisms that modern analytical techniques are required. In addition to the use and specific optimization of modern physico-chemical techniques for bulk and surface analysis, especially spectroscopic methods, the application potential for the methods is outlined and the available results are discussed.