Steven Zinkle

UTK-ORNL Governor’s Chair Professor for Nuclear Materials

Biography

Steve Zinkle is the Governor’s Chair Professor for Nuclear Materials at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT), with a joint appointment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). After completing his PhD in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he initially joined ORNL as a Wigner Fellow, eventually becoming Corporate Fellow. His ORNL activities encompassed various research, line management (group leader, Division director), and program management positions prior to joining UT in 2013.

Research

Behavior of materials under extreme conditions, advanced (additive) manufacturing, physical metallurgy and deformation and fracture mechanisms in structural materials, radiation effects in ceramics, fuel systems, and metallic alloys for fission and fusion energy systems, microstructural characterization of materials, and space reactor materials R&D.

Education

PhD, Nuclear Engineering (minor in Physics), University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 1985

MS, Materials Science, 1985

MS, Nuclear Engineering, 1982

BS, Nuclear Engineering, 1980

Professional Service

• Senior editor, Journal of Nuclear Materials (Jan. 2016–present)
• Member, National Academies Condensed Matter & Materials Research Committee (2019–2025)
• Member, National Academies committee on Laying the Foundations for New and Advanced Nuclear Reactors in the U.S. (2020–2023)
• Member, National Academies committee on Space Nuclear Propulsion Technologies (2020)
• Member, DOE National Nuclear Security Administration Defense Programs Advisory Comm. (2018–2022)
• Member, National Academies committee on Frontiers of Materials Research: A Decadal Survey (2017–2018)

Awards and Recognitions

• Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (elected 2012)
  U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) Ernest Orlando Lawrence Memorial Award (Nuclear Technology, 2006)
• American Nuclear Society (ANS) Seaborg medal (2022) for outstanding scientific or engineering research achievements associated with the development of peaceful uses of nuclear science
• The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) Leadership award (2022)
• ASM International Gold medal (2018)
• TMS Robert Franklin Mehl award and Institute of Metals lecture (2017)
• American Ceramic Society Edward Orton, Jr. Memorial Lecture Award (Materials Science & Technology meeting, 2017)
• Fusion Power Associates Leadership Award (2016)
• Fellow, American Physical Society (2013), Materials Research Society (2013),
• The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS, 2011), American Association for the Advancement of Science (2009), American Nuclear Society (ANS, 2007), ASM International (2003), American Ceramic Society (2001)
• ANS Mishima Award for outstanding R&D on nuclear fuels and materials (2007)
• Robert W. Cahn Award (inaugural recipient, Elsevier Nuclear Materials Conf., 2010)
• University Wisconsin College of Engineering Distinguished Achievement Award (2010)
• IEEE Nuclear & Plasma Sciences Society Fusion Technology Award (2006)
  ANS Mater. Sci. & Technology Division Outstanding Achievement Award (2005)
  ORNL Corporate Fellow (2004)—limited to about 30 staff among ~5000 ORNL employees
  Fusion Power Associates David J. Rose Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award (1992)

Publications

Select publications below. For a full list of his publications, view his Google Scholar page.

I.K. Robin, D.J. Sprouster, N. Sridharan, L.L. Snead and S.J. Zinkle, “Synchrotron Based Investigation of Anisotropy and Microstructure of Wire Arc Additive Manufactured Grade 91 Steel”, J. Materials Research & Technology 29 (March, 2024) 5010-5021.

T.G. Duffin, K.B. Palomares and S.J. Zinkle, “Corrosion and microstructural characterization of molybdenum cermets following hydrogen exposure up to 2630 K”, J. Nucl. Mater. 586 (Dec. 2023) 154692.

P. Zhu, Y. Zhao, S. Agarwal, J. Henry and S.J. Zinkle, “Toward accurate evaluation of bulk hardness from nanoindentation testing at low indent depths”, Mater. & Design 213 (2022) 110317

Yan-Ru Lin, Wei-Ying Chen, Meimei Li, J. Henry and S.J. Zinkle, “Dynamic observation of dual-beam irradiated Fe and Fe-10Cr alloys at 435°C”, Acta Materialia, 209 (2021) 116793. (ANS Mark Mills award)

C.P. Massey, S.N. Dryepondt, P.D. Edmondson, M.G. Frith, KC. Littrell, A. Kini, B. Gault, K.A. Terrani and S.J. Zinkle, “Multiscale investigations of nanoprecipitate nucleation, growth and coarsening in annealed low-Cr oxide dispersion strengthened FeCrAl powder”, Acta Materialia 166 (2019) 1-17. (ANS Mark Mills award)

S.J. Zinkle and L.L. Snead, “Opportunities and limitations for ion beams in radiation effects studies: Bridging critical gaps between charged particle and neutron irradiations”, Scripta Materialia 143 (Jan. 2018) 154-160.

N.A.P. Kiran Kumar, C. Li, K.J. Leonard, H. Bei and S.J. Zinkle, “Microstructural Stability and Mechanical Behavior of FeMnNiCr High Entropy Alloy under Ion Irradiation”, Acta Mater. 113 (2016) 230-244.

D.W. Clark, S.J. Zinkle, M.K. Patel and C.M. Parish, “High temperature ion irradiation effects in MAX phase ceramics”, Acta Materialia 105 (2016) 130-146.

S.J. Zinkle, K.A. Terrani, J.C. Gehin, L.J. Ott and L.L. Snead, “Accident Tolerant Fuels for LWRs: A Perspective”, J. Nucl.Mater. 448 (2014) 374-379.

S.J. Zinkle and L.L. Snead, “Designing Radiation Resistance in Materials for Fusion Energy”, Annual Review of Materials Research 44 (2014) 241-267.

S.J. Zinkle and G.S. Was, “Materials Challenges in Nuclear Energy”, Acta Materialia Diamond Jubilee special issue, Acta Materialia 61, no. 3 (2013) 735-758.

S.J. Zinkle and J.T. Busby, “Structural Materials for Fission and Fusion Energy”, Materials Today 12, no. 11 (2009) 12-19.