Rudy Konings

About my work

My work focusses on the behaviour of materials under conditions to which they are exposed to in nuclear energy applications, and specifically on understanding the role of (extreme) temperature and radiation that are typical for this domain. Classical chemical thermodynamics helps to understand phase stability and phase relations in complex systems, whereas materials thermodynamics relates energetics and disorder, for example caused by phase transformations, magnetism but also by exposure to radiation. Therefore the investigation of the influence of the crystallographic, defect and/or molecular structure of materials on their physico-chemical properties plays a central role. My interests cover materials in the entirety of the nuclear fuel cycle, but the principal fields of application of my work are oxide and molten salt fuels for nuclear reactors, and ceramic nuclear waste forms. The f-elements of the actinide and lanthanide series in the periodic table have my particular interest because of their high relevance or the nuclear energy field, but also due to their highly interesting physical and chemical behaviour.