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Best Paper Awards

Announcing: The 2019 UC Berkeley's Nuclear Engineering Department Best Paper Awards

December 13, 2019

This past Friday, our department chair Peter Hosemann continues his annual holiday tradition and gave out the 2019 UC Berkeley's Nuclear Engineering Department Best Paper Awards to eight students at this year's holiday party.

Let's celebrate the following students for their amazing work:

  1. David Frazer for his publication entitled "Plasticity of UO2 studied and quantified via elevated temperature micro compression testing" in the Journal of Nuclear Materials.
  2. Kylie Bilton for his publication entitled “Non-negative Matrix Factorization of Gamma-Ray Spectra for Background Modeling, Detection, and Source Identification” in IEEE Transactions in Nuclear Science.
  3. Adriana Sweet for her publication entitled “Radiative-capture cross sections for the 139La(n, g) reaction using thermal neutrons and structural properties of 140La” in Physical Review C.
  4. Marissa Ramirez De Chanlette for her publication entitled "A Two-Grid and Nonlinear Diffusion Acceleration Method for the SN Equations with Neutron Upscattering." in the Journal of Computational Transport Theory.
  5. Tyler Bailey for his publication entitled “Biodistribution Studies of Chelated Ce-134/La-134 as Positron-Emitting Analogues of Alpha-Emitting Therapy Radionuclides” in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
  6. Amanda Lewis for her publication entitled "Ratio method for estimating uncertainty in calculated gamma cascades" in the European Physical Journal A.
  7. Jonathan Morrell for his publication entitled "Boutique neutrons advance 40Ar/39Ar-geochronology" in Science Advances.
  8. Daniel Wooten for his publication entitled "Linear Optimization for Predicting Material Compositions in Molten Salt Reactors" in the Annals of Nuclear Energy.

Congratulations to all the winners and a special thank you to those who were able to attend the event. Happy Holidays!

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The State of the Nuclear Industry

Edsinger, Kurt_biophoto-2019-06
SPEAKER:
KURT EDSINGER
DATE/TIME:
MON, 12/09/2019 - 4:00PM TO 5:00PM
LOCATION:
3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL
Fall 2019 Colloquium Series
Abstract: In many ways, nuclear power has never been more needed than right now, but the challenges that nuclear power is experiencing in many parts of the world are substantial and largely tied to economics.  In the U.S., plants are shutting down before the end of their licensed lifetime. There are several factors at play, but their sustainability and longevity are largely reflective of their inability to compete in their marketplace.  Outside of the U.S., plants are experiencing similar pressures to reduce costs. The industry is exploring technology to increase competitiveness and have recognized a few successes and a number of additional opportunities. They are also looking beyond electricity to markets such as hydrogen and ammonia.

Nuclear power is also an important consideration for the future, and models of the future generation generally point to a significant role for nuclear.  However, new nuclear construction projects have experienced a series of cost overruns and schedule challenges. New designs that can be built more quickly and at lower cost are needed to compete in an environment that demands lower total life cycle costs.

Bio: Dr. Kurt Edsinger is the Director of Materials & Advanced Nuclear at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The primary system materials area at EPRI consists of three major programs, BWR Vessel and Internals Program (BWRVIP), PWR Materials Reliability Program (MRP), and Steam Generator Management Program (SGMP), along with a group focused specifically on non-U.S. materials challenges overseen by the International Materials Research (IMR) committee. These activities include near- term efforts to resolve current issues and basic R&D to address longer-term issues and support the viability of the industry. The advanced nuclear area focuses on technologies and R&D to enable deployment of the next generation of plants, both light water reactors and non-light water reactors, led by the Advanced Nuclear Technology (ANT) program. Prior to his current role in Materials & Advanced Nuclear, Dr. Edsinger held a number of roles of increasing responsibility in EPRI’s Nuclear Sector, including Director of Fuel and Chemistry, and Manager of the Fuel Reliability Program (FRP). Before joining EPRI, he managed the Materials Technology Group for General Electric. In that position, he led a group of scientists and engineers in resolving BWR fuel performance issues, developing new fuel products, and demonstrating fuel reliability margins. Dr. Edsinger received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from San Jose State University and a Doctorate degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a dissertation on fracture in structural steels.

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Rebecca Abergel elected as AAAS Fellow

Rebecca Abergel elected as AAAS Fellow

December 3, 2019

Rebecca Abergel of Berkeley Lab's Chemical Sciences Division is studying how an anti-radiation-poisoning pill she developed in 2014 could help to protect people from the potential toxicity in the long-term retention of gadolinium, an ingredient in MRI contrast agents. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 in Berkeley, Calif. 09/04/19

Our very own Rebecca Abergel has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an lifetime distinction bestowed upon the society’s members by their peers.

4 other UC Berkeley faculty members have been awarded and featured in this week's Berkeley News:

"The five are among 443 members awarded the honor because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. Founded in 1848, the AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of Science and five other journals."

The article highlighted her work and leadership within the department and at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

See the News article here.

Professor Abergel will receive official certificates and rosette pins in gold and blue, colors symbolizing science and engineering, in a ceremony on Feb. 15, 2020, during the AAAS Annual Meeting in Seattle.

See the AAAS announcement here.