Justin Yarrington

Graduate Research Assistant

Research Description

The development of advanced reactors has been a primary focus within recent advancements in nuclear energy. The development of reliable structural materials with increased lifetimes in-reactor has been a major challenge in next-generation reactor development due to degradation mechanisms such as stress-corrosion cracking (SCC), irradiation-assisted stress-corrosion cracking (IASCC), radiation hardening and embrittlement, helium and hydrogen embrittlement, and so forth. Similar challenges have also been experienced in efforts seeking to increase the lifetime of existing light-water reactors. In addition, characterization efforts aimed at understanding these mechanisms in structural materials and their impact to reactor performance and lifetime have been slowed by the amount of irradiated material available for material characterization efforts. Justin’s research work focuses on the advancement and improvement of sub-sized specimen testing to aid in the characterization of fracture properties of structural materials while reducing the amount of irradiated material utilized in specimen fabrication.

Background

Justin currently resides in Idaho Falls, Idaho where he is a full-time employee at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). He works in the design and development of research equipment used to support post-irradiation examination of nuclear fuels at INLs hot cell facilities and has supported various fuel safety testing in support of various DOE programs. He is a distance learning student completing a Ph. D. in Nuclear Engineering, while performing his research at INL. He previously completed an M. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Techology studying with professors Dr. Peter Loutzenhiser and Dr. Devesh Ranjan. While there, his research focused on the characterization of mechanical and flow properties of sintered bauxite to aid in the determination of using sintered bauxite as a thermal energy storage medium for next-generation Concentrated Solar Power plants. He also previously completed a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University – Idaho in 2018, where he was heavily involved with the university’s ASME chapter including projects such as design and development of a Stirling engine, design of a 1/8th scale RC car, and development of a five-function robot. 

Education