Sensors synergistic with nature for in-pile nuclear reactor measurements

To be able to evolve fuel and structural microstructure within a nuclear power reactor in an engineered manner, an effective extreme environment sensor must exist. The development of sensor technology for nondestructive and nonintrusive measurements in harsh environments is a very active field. However most of the effort has been in adapting existing sensing technology to meet the harsh environmental requirements. A different approach is being presented. The fundamental question that we are trying to answer is how do we take advantage of the harsh environment and maintain synergy between the sensor and the environment. This paper will discuss the synergistic sensor being developed that takes advantage of harsh environments.