The Department addresses the special service requirements of micro/mini advanced nuclear energy systems for materials in special application scenarios. It focuses on research directions such as novel structural materials, functional materials, and advanced nuclear fuels, and conducts research on the design of innovative materials, service performance evaluation, special processing techniques, and structural safety and reliability evaluation.

The Department has a comprehensive experimental platform for liquid metal loops and materials technology, which can support the R&D of advanced nuclear materials for liquid-metal micro reactors, service performance testing, and reliability evaluation of key equipment and structures. The platform has relatively complete conditions for preparation, special processing, general and service performance testing. It possesses large-scale comprehensive experimental liquid metal (lead/lead-bismuth, lithium/lithium-lead) technology loops at an internationally advanced scale, providing adequate support for materials R&D for micro/mini advanced nuclear energy systems. Its laboratory area is about 15,000 m², and the fixed assets of its experimental facilities are about RMB 300 million.

Over the past five years, the Department has led and undertaken more than 20 projects, including the National Key R&D Program, the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. It has established an extensive international cooperation network with renowned nuclear materials R&D institutions in Russia, Japan, Germany, and other countries. It has published more than 100 SCI/EI papers and been granted more than 30 international and national invention patents. Its graduated master's and doctoral students are now working in universities, research institutions, government agencies, and high-tech companies at home and abroad.