Nuclear Fuel Materials Laboratory
The laboratory’s main activity is research on nuclear fuel materials.
Research areas:
- thermophysical properties of materials
- thermodynamic properties of materials
- compatibility of materials
- powder technologies
- thermal sintering and alternative consolidation technologies
- production of materials with a tailored structure
Head of the research group: Andrey Vadimovich Tenishev, Associate Professor, PhD (Eng.)
- ORCID: 0000-0002-2424-1656
- RSCI SPIN code: 4473-8054
- Scopus Author ID: 35727870800
- Web of Science ResearcherID: G-3695-2013
- Certificate of Merit of Rosenergoatom Concern (2012)
- Letter of Appreciation of the Rosatom State Corporation (2018)
- Acknowledgement of the President of JSC TVEL (2022)
Research group
- Andrey Vadimovich Tenishev, PhD (Eng.), Associate Professor, head of the group
- Dmitry Pavlovich Shornikov, PhD (Eng.), Associate Professor
- Vladimir Valerievich Mikhalchik, PhD (Eng.), Associate Professor
- Boris Vladimirovich Produvalov, Engineer
- Stepan Nikolaevich Nikitin, Head of Laboratory
- Viktoriya Nikolaevna Kazakova, Engineer
- Roman Valentinovich Smirnov, Engineer
- Maksim Dmitrievich Saveliev, Engineer
- Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Uvarov, PhD student
- Aleksandr Andreevich Bazhenov, PhD student
- Artem Aleksandrovich Zazolin, Senior Laboratory Assistant
- Georgy Andreevich Ivanov, Master’s student
Research equipment and facilities
- NETZSCH STA 409 CD simultaneous thermal analyser with QMS 403C Aëolos quadrupole mass spectrometer (Germany): differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), differential thermal analysis (DTA), mass change measurement and evolved gas analysis.
- NETZSCH DIL 402 C horizontal dilatometer (Germany): coefficient of linear thermal expansion and length change on heating (e.g. shrinkage during sintering) of any solid samples.
- Fritsch Pulverisette 5 planetary ball mill (Germany) for fine grinding of powder materials under controlled conditions.
- NETZSCH STA 449 F1 simultaneous thermal analyser (Germany), maximum temperature 2400 °C, with temperature modulation: DSC, DTA, thermogravimetry.
- NETZSCH DIL 402 E Pyro dilatometer (Germany), maximum temperature 2800 °C: coefficient of linear thermal expansion and sintering of refractory ceramics.
- NETZSCH DSC 404 F1 differential scanning calorimeter (Germany) with temperature modulation, combined with thermogravimetry, maximum temperature 1600 °C: thermal analysis and heat capacity of alloys and ceramics.
- LFA 427 laser flash apparatus, maximum temperature 2400 °C: thermal diffusivity and heat capacity of materials.
- JEOL JSM-6610 scanning electron microscope (Japan): surface topography and structure, secondary and backscattered electron imaging, X-ray microanalysis with EDS and WDS spectrometers.
- Zirconia-M instrument (Russia) for monitoring and adjusting the oxygen partial pressure in sintering gas atmospheres.
Graduation theses and dissertations
- Development of a method for producing single-phase U3Si2 and pellets from it. V.E. Rukosuev, PhD student research report, 2023
- Comprehensive analysis of the sintering process of uranium-gadolinium oxides. A.A. Bazhenov, Master’s thesis, 2023
- Structural changes in uranium-gadolinium oxides during high-temperature annealing. I.A. Cherepanova, Bachelor’s thesis, 2022
- Effect of gadolinium oxide additions on the oxygen potential of uranium dioxide. A.A. Bazhenov, Bachelor’s thesis, 2021
- High-temperature thermal expansion of uranium-gadolinium oxide nuclear fuel. S.S. Savinnykh, Specialist’s thesis, 2021
- Effect of the characteristics of initial uranium dioxide powders on the structure and properties of oxide nuclear fuel pellets. M.E. Matvenov, PhD student research report, 2020
- Thermochemical stability of model uranium-based nitride nuclear fuel. V.V. Mikhalchik, PhD thesis (Eng.), 2019
- Effect of pressing modes on the sintering of uranium dioxide pellets. A.S. Efimenko, Specialist’s thesis, 2018
- Thermophysical properties of 06Kh18N10T steel absorber rod claddings. N.A. Butov, Bachelor’s thesis, 2018
Publications
Papers by the laboratory staff, 2016–2026 (from Crossref and OpenAlex).
2026
- Dependence of Hydride Orientation on Crystallographic Texture and Stress State in Stamped and Recrystallized Spacer Grid Cells.
Isaenkova M.G., Tenishev A.V., Mikhalchik V.V., Petrov M.I., Bazhenov A.A., Fesenko V.A., Kozlov I.V., Rogovskiy V.A.
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 2026, vol. 35(21), pp. 21542-21550. doi:10.1007/s11665-025-13138-6 - Microstructure of dysprosium hafnate after sequential irradiation with heavy and light ions.
Staltsov M., Shornikov D., Tenishev A., Chernov I., Urusov A., Mokrushin A., Risovaniy V., Chuvikov S., Petrov E.
Advances in Nuclear Science and Applications, 2026, vol. 2(1), pp. 61-78. doi:10.63907/ansa.v2i1.73
2025
- Elaboration of a Hydrogenation Procedure for Zirconium Alloys.
Mikhalchik V.V., Isaenkova M.G., Tenishev A.V., Shornikov D.P., Bazhenov A.A., Petrov M.I., Fesenko V.A., Krymskaya O.A., Chernyakova V.S.
Russian Metallurgy (Metally), 2025, vol. 2025(4), pp. 887-893. doi:10.1134/s0036029525701654 - Influence of Hydride Orientation on the Deformation of Tubes Made of E635 Zirconium Alloy.
Petrov M.I., Ilyasov R.A., Isaenkova M.G., Krymskaya O.A., Mikhalchik V.V.
Russian Metallurgy (Metally), 2025, vol. 2025(4), pp. 868-873. doi:10.1134/s0036029525701629 - Measurement of Low-Concentration Hydrogen in Inert Gas Within a Small Closed Volume.
Ivanov G.A., Shornikov D.P., Samotaev N.N., Oblov K.Y., Etrekova M.O., Litvinov A.V.
Sensors, 2025, vol. 25(12), art. 3771. doi:10.3390/s25123771 - Studying the Thermal Expansion of Cladding Tubes and Rods Made of Zr-1% Nb Alloy in the Temperature Range of 293–873 K (20–600°C) Using X-ray and Dilatometric Measurement Techniques.
Isaenkova M.G., Tenishev A.V., Perlovich Y.A., Stolbov S.D., Mikhalchik V.V., Fedotov P.V., Novikov V.V., Kuznetsov V.I.
Inorganic Materials: Applied Research, 2025, vol. 16(3), pp. 969-978. doi:10.1134/s207511332570090x
2024
- Protective Coatings on Hafnium Hydride and Their Effect on Its Thermal Decomposition.
Shornikov D.P., Mikhalchik V.V., Ivanov G.A., Tenishev A.V., Staltsov M.S., Samotaev N.N., Bratsuk A.V., Kovtun S.Y., Polunin K.K., Urusov A.A.
Physics of Atomic Nuclei, 2024, vol. 87(11), pp. 1573-1578. doi:10.1134/s1063778824100466
2023
- Behavior of Triuranium Disilicide in Water Vapor.
Rukosuev V.E., Shornikov D.P., Tenishev A.V., Bykanov A.S., Ivanov G.A., Karpyuk L.A., Mikheev E.N., Novikov V.V., Sivov R.B.
Steel in Translation, 2023, vol. 53(11), pp. 915-921. doi:10.3103/s0967091223110268 - High-Temperature Nitriding Kinetics of Zr–U-Based Alloys.
Kovalev I.A., Kochanov G.P., L’vov L.O., Zufman V.Y., Ogarkov A.I., Shornikov D.P., Tarasov B.A., Konovalov A.A., Shokod’ko A.V., Strel’nikova S.S., Chernyavskii A.S., Solntsev K.A.
Russian Metallurgy (Metally), 2023, vol. 2023(5), pp. 606-612. doi:10.1134/s0036029523050038
2022
- Compatibility of U – Mo and V – Ti – Cr аlloys at 900 oC.
Nikitin S.N., Tarasov B.A., Shornikov D.P., Yurlova A.S.
Tsvetnye Metally, 2022, pp. 37-41. doi:10.17580/tsm.2022.10.05 - Differential Scanning Calorimetry Determination of the Hydrogen Solubility in E110opt and E635 Zirconium Alloys.
Tenishev A.V., Petrov M.I., Isaenkova M.G., Mikhal’chik V.V., Fesenko V.A., Plyasov A.A., Saburov N.S.
Russian Metallurgy (Metally), 2022, vol. 2022(11), pp. 1427-1433. doi:10.1134/s0036029522110131 - Effect of the Stressed State on the Phase Transformations in Zirconium-Based Alloys.
Stolbov S.D., Isaenkova M.G., Korotitskii A.V., Tenishev A.V., Mikhal’chik V.V., Krymskaya O.A., Fesenko V.A.
Russian Metallurgy (Metally), 2022, vol. 2022(3), pp. 250-260. doi:10.1134/s0036029522030119 - Hydrogen Solubility in Zirconium Alloys E110opt and E635.
Plyasov A.A., Fedotov A.V., Saburov N.S., Mikheev E.N., Tenishev A.V., Isaenkova M.G., Mikhalchik V.V.
Physics of Atomic Nuclei, 2022, vol. 85(11), pp. 1808-1815. doi:10.1134/s1063778822110060 - Phase Transformations Accompanying High-Temperature Nitridation of Zr–Nb Alloys.
Kovalev I.A., Kannykin S.V., Konovalov A.A., Kochanov G.P., Ogarkov A.I., Tarasov B.A., Shornikov D.P., Strel’nikova S.S., Chernyavskii A.S., Solntsev K.A.
Inorganic Materials, 2022, vol. 58(4), pp. 364-370. doi:10.1134/s0020168522040070 - Specific Features of Nuclear and Thermophysical Calculations of (Zr,U)N Nuclear Fuel Prepared Using an Oxidation-Assisted Engineering Approach.
Shornikov D.P., Kovalev I.A., Tenishev A.V., Tarasov B.A., Shokod’ko A.V., Ogarkov A.I., Strel’nikova S.S., Chernyavskii A.S., Solntsev K.A.
Inorganic Materials, 2022, vol. 58(6), pp. 578-586. doi:10.1134/s0020168522050090 - Thermogravimetric study of mixed uranium-plutonium fuel for prospective generation IV reactors.
Krivov M.P., Kireev G.A., Tenishev A.V., Davydov A.V., Skupov M.V., Solomatin I.D., Mosunova N.A., Usov E.V., Chukhno V.I.
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 2022, vol. 567, art. 153798. doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153798
2021
- Dependence of Thermal Expansion of Zr-Based Products on their Crystallographic Texture.
Stolbov S., Isaenkova M., Perlovich Y., Tenishev A., Krymskaya O., Mikhalchik V., Klyukova K.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2021, vol. 1121(1), art. 012036. doi:10.1088/1757-899x/1121/1/012036 - Electrical Properties of Li+-Substituted Solid Solutions Based on Gd2Zr2O7.
Anokhina I.A., Animitsa I.E., Voronin V.I., Vykhodets V.B., Kurennykh T.E., Buzina A.F., Kazakova V.N., Nokhrin S.S., Zaikov Y.P.
Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2021, vol. 95(12), pp. 2426-2431. doi:10.1134/s0036024421120037 - Influence of the structural state and crystallographic texture of Zr-2.5% Nb alloy samples on the anisotropy of their thermal expansion.
Isaenkova M.G., Tenishev A.V., Krymskaya O.A., Stolbov S.D., Mikhal’chik V.V., Fesenko V.A., Klyukova K.E.
Nuclear Materials and Energy, 2021, vol. 29, art. 101071. doi:10.1016/j.nme.2021.101071 - Regularities of Thermal Expansion of Cladding Tubes and Rods Made of E110opt Alloy within the Temperature Range of 273–1473 K (20–1200°C).
Isaenkova M.G., Tenishev A.V., Perlovich Y.A., Stolbov S.D., Mikhalchik V.V., Fedotov P.V., Novikov V.V., Kuznetsov V.I.
Inorganic Materials: Applied Research, 2021, vol. 12(3), pp. 820-830. doi:10.1134/s2075113321030138
2020
- Distribution of impurities in ceramics based on zirconium nitride obtained using the oxidative constructing approach.
Kovalev I.A., Shevtsov S.V., Vorkachev K.G., Ashmarin A.A., Shokodko A.V., Ogarkov A.I., Ovsyannikov N.A., Kochanov G.P., Tenishev A.V., Kazakova V.N., Shornikov D.P., Shokodko E.A., Strelnikova S.S., Chernyavskii A.S., Solntsev K.A.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020, vol. 848(1), art. 012062. doi:10.1088/1757-899x/848/1/012062 - Identification of the Sintering Mechanism of Oxide Nuclear Fuel through the Analysis of Experimental Pore Size Distributions.
Devyatko Y.N., Khomyakov O.V., Tenishev A.V., Matvenov M.E., Shornikov D.P.
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 2020, vol. 89(2), art. 024803. doi:10.7566/jpsj.89.024803 - Properties of graphite to be used as a material for the T-15MD tokamak plasma-facing elements.
Puntakov N.A., Ayrapetov A.A., Begrambekov L.B., Grunin A.V., Dovganyuk S.S., Kaplevskiy A.S., Tenishev A.V., Grashin S.A., Arkhipov I.I.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2020, vol. 1686(1), art. 012014. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1686/1/012014 - Regularities of instantaneous (flash) spark – plasma sintering of silicon carbide.
Kazakova V., Shornikov D., Tenishev A., Shornikova E.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020, vol. 1005(1), art. 012015. doi:10.1088/1757-899x/1005/1/012015 - Research of thermoradiation properties and expansion of tantalum carbide at high temperatures.
Senchenko V.N., Belikov R.S., Tenishev A.V.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020, vol. 848(1), art. 012079. doi:10.1088/1757-899x/848/1/012079 - Special aspects of uranium oxide non-stoichiometry measurement by thermogravimetric analysis.
Tenishev A., Kuzmin R., Matvenov M., Mikhalchik V., Shornikov D.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020, vol. 1005(1), art. 012003. doi:10.1088/1757-899x/1005/1/012003
2019
- Determination of Density and Pore Size Distribution in Uranium Dioxide Fuel Pellet by Image Analysis of its Cross-Sectional Structure.
Devyatko Y.N., Khomyakov O.V., Tenishev A.V., Mikhalchik V.V., Shornikov D.P.
Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 2019, vol. 88(7), art. 074802. doi:10.7566/jpsj.88.074802 - Development of the technology of obtaining the composite based on the “magnesium-bone substance” for biodegradable implants by the method of powder metallurgy.
Krokhicheva P., Shornikov D., Savelyev M.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2019, vol. 525, art. 012029. doi:10.1088/1757-899x/525/1/012029 - Effect of Aluminum Oxide Powder Particle Size on Spark Plasma Sintering Results.
Rubinkovskii N.A., Shornikov D.P., Tenishev A.V., Zaluzhnyi A.G., Zholnin A.G.
Glass and Ceramics, 2019, vol. 76(3-4), pp. 94-98. doi:10.1007/s10717-019-00140-3 - Effect of Nitride Nuclear Fuel Structure and Phase Composition on Fuel-Rod Life.
Krivov M.P., Kireev G.A., Tenishev A.V.
Atomic Energy, 2019, vol. 127(1), pp. 28-32. doi:10.1007/s10512-019-00579-1 - Effect of the Thermomechanical Compacting Conditions on the Electrical Conductivity of an Al2O3/Graphene Composite Material.
Zholnin A.G., Tenishev A.V., Stolyarov V.V.
Russian Metallurgy (Metally), 2019, vol. 2019(10), pp. 1009-1014. doi:10.1134/s003602951910032x - Fabrication of a High-Density Compacted Material from a Coarse-Grained Silicon Carbide Powder by Magnetic Pulsed Pressing Combined with Spark Plasma Sintering.
Shornikov D.P., Tenishev A.V., Kazakova V.N., Zholnin A.G.
Russian Metallurgy (Metally), 2019, vol. 2019(10), pp. 1102-1106. doi:10.1134/s0036029519100252 - Production of Aluminum-Graphite Composite by Spark Plasma Sintering.
Rubinkovskii N.A., Shornikov D.P., Tenishev A.V., Zaluzhnyi A.G., Zholnin A.G.
Glass and Ceramics, 2019, vol. 76(1-2), pp. 27-32. doi:10.1007/s10717-019-00126-1
2016
- Kinetic and microstructural studies of thermal decomposition in uranium mononitride compacts subjected to heating in high-purity helium. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 2016, vol. 475, pp. 266–273. doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.04.018
- Thermal stability investigation technique for uranium nitride. Annals of Nuclear Energy, 2016, vol. 87, pp. 784–792. doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2014.09.023
- Thermal conductivity of perspective fuel based on uranium nitride. Annals of Nuclear Energy, 2016, vol. 87, pp. 799–802. doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2014.08.011
Research projects
- Microstructure and composition of as-fabricated, xenon-implanted and annealed oxide nuclear fuel samples; modelling of defect properties and gas-filled bubbles and determination of their parameters in uranium dioxide. Customer: JSC VNIINM.
- High-temperature properties of UO2 and (U,Gd)O2 fuel. Customer: JSC VNIINM.
- Laboratory technology for fabricating U3Si2 samples; high-temperature thermophysical properties and corrosion resistance of U3Si2. Customer: JSC VNIINM.
- Production technology of uranium dioxide fuel pellets. Customer: JSC MSZ (Machine-Building Plant, Elektrostal).
- Thermal conductivity of matrix graphite and fuel compact materials. Customer: JSC SIA Luch.
- Thermophysical properties of structural, fuel and absorber materials of current and advanced control rods of VVER and BN reactors. Customer: SIA Luch.
- State Assignment of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation “Comprehensive analysis of the sintering process of oxide nuclear fuel”, 2017–2019.
- Sintering of uranium-gadolinium pellets with up to 10 % gadolinium oxide. Customer: PJSC MSZ.
