October 2015

October 26, 2015January 14, 2019

Hydrogen Isotope Transport in the Graphite Fuel Elements of Fluoride-Salt Cooled, High-Temperature Nuclear Reactors (FHR)

SPEAKER:

RALUCA O. SCARLAT, PH.D

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING PHYSICS AT UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON

DATE/TIME:

MON, 10/26/2015 - 4:00PM TO 5:00PM

LOCATION:

3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL

Fall 2015 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

The Pebble-Bed Fluoride-Salt-Cooled High Temperature Reactor (PB-FHR) is an advanced nuclear reactor concept that combines high-temperature and low-pressure fluoride salt coolants with particle-encapsulated nuclear fuel. FHRs deliver heat in the 600 - 700°C range, and this temperature range makes it possible to couple nuclear heat to commercially available gas turbines for open air power conversion cycles, which enables combined-cycle efficiencies of 65% and provides the capability of natural gas co-firing for power peaking. One of the technical challenges that is most important in the commercialization if FHRs is the management of tritium. Under neutron-irradiation, the metallic constituents of the salt generate tritium, for which the salt has very low solubility. At 600oC and above, tritium readily diffuses through metals, and the salt-to-air metal heat exchanger is a pathway for the release of tritium to the atmosphere. In order to manage tritium release, two complementary approaches are being studied: tritium permeation barriers on metallic tubes, and methods for the extraction of tritium from the salt coolant. The fuel elements of FHR are made of a graphitic material in which the encapsulated fuel particles are embedded. It would be advantageous if the graphitic material of the FHR fuel elements could serve as an effective in-situ tritium sink. The Scarlat group studies the ability of this graphitic material to absorb hydrogen isotopes from the liquid fluoride salts. This presentation will provide an overview of tritium management in FHR, and will present the ongoing research at University of Wisconsin Madison on understanding the transport mechanisms of hydrogen isotopes from liquid fluoride salts into graphitic materials.

About the Speaker:

Raluca Scarlat is an assistant professor at UW Madison in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics. She has a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from UC Berkeley, and a B.S. in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Cornell University. Prior to her doctoral studies she has worked for GE and ExxonMobil. In 2011, she advised for Hitachi-GE, in Japan, on post-Fukushima changes to severe accident guidelines for the Japanese fleet of reactors. She has published articles in Nuclear Engineering and Design, Nuclear Instruments and Methods, Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, and Progress in Nuclear Energy. Her research interests are in the area of heat and mass transport, thermal-hydraulics, nuclear reactor safety and design, and engineering ethics.

October 23, 2015January 14, 2019

Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future

SPEAKER:

HENRY SOKOLSKI, PH.D

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NONPROLIFERATION POLICY EDUCATION CENTER

DATE/TIME:

WED, 10/21/2015 - 12:00PM TO 1:00PM

LOCATION:

310 SODA HALL

Fall 2015 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

With the world focused on Iran, it is tempting to think that addressing this case, North Korea, and the problem of nuclear terrorism is all that matters and is what matters most. Perhaps, but if states become more willing to use their nuclear weapons to achieve military advantage, our security could be held hostage not just by Pyongyang, Tehran, and terrorists, but to nuclear proliferation, miscalculation, and wars between a much larger number of possible players. This, in a nutshell, is the premise of Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future, which explores what we think about this future and what we may actually be up against. The book has already received critical praise from SURVIVAL, Eric Schlosser (author of Command and Control), Andrew Marshall (former Office of Net Assessment), and a number of university professors including Robert Jervis (Columbia University), Peter Feaver (Duke) and Ambassador Robert Gallucci (Georgetown).

About the Speaker:

Henry Sokolski is the Executive Director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (NPEC), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization founded in 1994 to promote a better understanding of strategic weapons proliferation issues among policy-makers, scholars and the media. He currently serves as an adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.

He previously served in the Pentagon (1989-1993) as Deputy for Nonproliferation Policy and received a medal for outstanding public service from Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. He also worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Office of Net Assessment, as a consultant to the National Intelligence Council, and as a member of the Central Intelligence Agency's Senior Advisory Group. In the U.S. Senate, Mr. Sokolski served as a special assistant on nuclear energy matters to Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-NH), and as a legislative military aide to Senate Armed Service Committee member Dan Quayle (R-IN).

In 2008, Congress appointed him to serve a two-year term as a member of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. Congress previously appointed him in 1999 to serve on the Deutch WMD Proliferation Commission. Mr. Sokolski has authored and edited a number of works on proliferation, including Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future (2015); Best of Intentions: America's Campaign Against Strategic Weapons Proliferation (2001); Nuclear Weapons Security Crises: What Does History Teach? (2013), The Next Arms Race (2012), Nuclear Power's Global Expansion: Weighing its Costs and Risks (2010); Nuclear Heuristics: Selected Writings of Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter (2009); Falling Behind: International Scrutiny of the Peaceful Atom (2008); Getting Ready for a Nuclear-Ready Iran (2005); and Getting MAD: Nuclear Mutual Assured Destruction, Its Origins and Practice (2004).

October 19, 2015January 14, 2019

New Data on the Real Costs of Historical Nuclear Power Around the World

SPEAKER:

JESSICA LOVERING

SENIOR ANALYST AT THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE

DATE/TIME:

MON, 10/19/2015 - 4:00PM TO 5:00PM

LOCATION:

3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL

Fall 2015 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

While most studies of nuclear costs focus narrowly on the US and France, Jessica Lovering’s newly curated dataset includes complete cost histories of nuclear reactors for seven countries. By comparing the historical trends in countries like the US, France, Germany, and Canada with newcomers like Japan, India, and South Korea, many lessons can be learned about what types of policies can bring the cost of nuclear power down.

About the Speaker:

Jessica earned an MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder, where her studies focused on energy policy. During her last year of school, Jessica created a graduate course in nuclear energy, which she co-taught in the Spring of 2012 with a nuclear physics professor. The course was an interdisciplinary look at all aspects of nuclear power including social, environmental, financial, security, and legal issues. In 2011, Jessica was a Breakthrough Generation Fellow, researching energy access. In an earlier life, Jessica received a BA in Astrophysics from the University of California Berkeley and an MS in Astrophysics from the University of Colorado. She also worked for two years on NASA’s New Horizons mission, which will fly by Pluto in July 2015. In her free time, she enjoys dystopian fiction, ballet, and enjoying the great outdoors.

October 12, 2015January 14, 2019

Rethinking Nuclear: How Can We Change the World’s Cumulative Carbon Emissions Soon Enough?

SPEAKER:

JOSEPH LASSITER III, PH.D.

SENIOR FELLOW, SENATOR JOHN HEINZ PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT PRACTICE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, RETIRED

DATE/TIME:

MON, 10/12/2015 - 4:00PM TO 5:00PM

LOCATION:

3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL

Fall 2015 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

Today’s existing nuclear power alternatives as well as renewables are currently forecast by the EIA and IEA to be losing the race with fossil fuels worldwide and are expected to continue do so for the forecast future. A suite of new nuclear power alternatives that is capable of competing economically with fossil fuels (coal in Asia and natural gas in the United States) is on the drawing boards, but time is of the essence if we want to keep cumulative, worldwide CO2 emissions from reaching what could well be threatening levels.

About the Speaker:

Joe is the Senator John Heinz Professor of Management Practice in Environmental Management, Retired. He studies one of the world’s most pressing problems: developing clean, secure and carbon-neutral supplies of reliable, low-cost energy all around the world. He teaches in the Harvard Business School MBA program as well as in Harvard University’s Executive Education programs. In addition to being a Senior Fellow at HBS, he is a Faculty Fellow of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program (HEEP) and a Faculty Associate of the Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE). Since joining HBS in 1996, his work has focused on financing high-potential ventures and bringing their innovations to market in different parts of the world. Outside Harvard, he has been an active investor in and director of a wide range of new ventures and public companies.From 1994 to 1996, Professor Lassiter was President of Wildfire Communications, a telecommunications software venture backed by Matrix Partners and Greylock Partners. From 1974 to 1994, he was a Vice President of Teradyne (NYSE/ automatic test equipment) and a member of its Management Committee. Professor Lassiter began his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Department of Ocean Engineering as an Instructor in 1970 and was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1972. He received his BS, MS, and PhD from MIT.

October 5, 2015January 11, 2019

Nuclear Safety Research and Development at the Department of Energy

SPEAKER:

ALAN LEVIN, PH.D.

SENIOR TECHNICAL ADVISOR AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S OFFICE OF NUCLEAR SAFETY

DATE/TIME:

MON, 10/05/2015 - 4:00PM TO 5:00PM

LOCATION:

3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL

Fall 2015 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has established a corporate Nuclear Safety Research and Development (NSR&D) Program, managed by the Office of Nuclear Safety in DOE’s Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security. The primary objectives of the program are the identification, support, and dissemination of the results of R&D to address cross-cutting nuclear safety issues relevant to the design, construction, and operation of DOE civilian and defense nuclear facilities, to improve nuclear safety at those facilities. This presentation discusses the DOE NSR&D Program’s background and establishment, current projects and near-term objectives, and the Office of Nuclear Safety’s plans for enhancing and expanding the Program’s activities. The NSR&D Program was formally established in 2011, and the first projects to be supported by the Program were selected in 2013. A DOE-wide call for proposals is distributed each year, and the proposals submitted are evaluated by the NSR&D Committee, composed of representatives from National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and DOE program offices responsible for oversight of nuclear facilities and chaired by the Office of Nuclear Safety’s NSR&D Program Manager. In addition to the projects undertaken as a result of the calls for proposals, the Office of Nuclear Safety initiates projects involving the preparation of technical reports addressing cross-cutting nuclear safety issues. As the NSR&D projects are completed, the resulting hardware, software, and methodologies will be used to augment and/or improve DOE nuclear safety policy, procedures, operations, and oversight. The Office of Nuclear Safety continues to work closely with NNSA and DOE program offices to expand the number and scope of NSR&D projects, and to look for opportunities to collaborate with other organizations to identify and study nuclear safety issues relevant to DOE’s nuclear facilities.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Alan Levin is a senior technical advisor in the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Safety, and is also the manager of DOE’s corporate Nuclear Safety Research and Development Program. He has more than 35 years’ experience in nuclear reactor and facility design, safety, testing, regulation, and quality assurance. Prior to joining DOE in 2013, he was a senior staff member in regulatory affairs at AREVA, working on a range of issues related to new reactor licensing, post-Fukushima modifications to existing plants, and medical applications of nuclear technology. Dr. Levin’s professional experience includes nearly 15 years with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where he worked in the Offices of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and Nuclear Regulatory Research, and served as a member of Chairman Richard Meserve’s personal staff. Before joining the NRC, Dr. Levin was a faculty member in Georgia Tech’s Nuclear Engineering and Health Physics Program, where his research included thermal-hydraulics, accident analysis, and testing on advanced water-cooled and gas-cooled reactors. He began his career at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he worked on the breeder reactor safety program. Dr. Levin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a doctorate in Nuclear Engineering, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Maryland and Illinois. He is also a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, and is a past-Chair of both the Washington, D.C. ANS Section and ANS’s Nuclear Installations Safety Division. He served on the ANS Board of Directors from 2007-2010.