22 Technology INNOVATION & DEPLOYMENT Extending superalloy performance INL materials scientists are studying “superalloys” that can withstand high heat and mechanical forces in electricity-generating turbines and inside nuclear reactors. The lab’s cutting-edge research imposed a nanoscale structural hierarchy that further strengthens a high-performance nickel-based alloy. Experiments on the material, combined with modeling studies, suggest that it can withstand thousands more hours of high-temperature conditions than superalloys without this peculiar microstructure. The findings were published in Science Advances, a member of the prestigious family of Science journals. Above, Subhashish Meher used the local electron atom probe (LEAP) at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies to study structural hierarchy in nickel-based superalloys. Right, Kevin Gering, Sergiy Sazhin and Eric Dufek are developers of the Battery Health Sentry.