5. Application to materials science

The characterization of microstructure, in particular crystalline defects, using electron channeling contrast imaging is making an increasingly important contribution to materials science and, with the development of SEMs, is opening up interesting prospects.

The final case presented here concerns a study of the viscoplastic behavior of polycrystalline uranium dioxide UO ₂ , using compression creep tests at 1,500°C outside irradiation to reproduce the situation in the reactor.

The fuel used in pressurized water reactors is formed by "rods" made up of stacks of cylindrical pellets of enriched UO ₂ , clad in a zirconium or mixed uranium and plutonium alloy