April 2021

April 30, 2021June 10, 2021

Professor Per Peterson selected to join the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board

Professor Per Peterson Selected to Join the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board

April 30th, 2021

Professor Per Peterson was invited to be a member of the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board (NASEM). The board oversees the National Academy’s studies in nuclear technologies and radiation health effects and has the responsibility to organize NASEM studies on safety, security, technical efficacy, and other policy and societal issues arising from the application of nuclear and radiation-based technologies.

Find more about NASEM and meet the other Board members: https://www.nationalacademies.org/nrsb/about

Congratulations, Per!

April 30, 2021April 7, 2022

Individual Stories behind Fukushima Nuclear Tragedy

SPEAKER:

Kazuma Obara

Photojournalist

DATE/TIME:

FRI, 04/30/2021 - 3:00PM TO 4:00PM

LOCATION:

via zoom

Spring 2021 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

Japanese photojournalist Obara will give a talk about individual stories of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear workers in Fukushima. Many aspects of the accident and working conditions forced nuclear workers to be silent after the accident. Workers became invisible from the society. He had tried to uncover their individual stories. In this talk, Obara will also show his latest pictures in current Fukushima in 2021.

About the Speaker:

Kazuma Obara (Japan, 1985) is a photojournalist based in Japan. Focusing on personal stories in nuclear tragedy. He engaged in the project of Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear accident and Bikini nuclear testing. His long term documentary series "Exposure" received First Prize in the World Press Photo 2016 People category. Obara currently works on the project of COVID-19 under the support of National Geographic Society.

April 28, 2021May 10, 2021

Christopher Reis’ poster wins 2nd Place at the US-Japan Hawaii Symposium

Christopher Reis' poster wins 2nd Place at the US-Japan Hawaii Symposium

April 27, 2021

First-year graduate student Christopher Reis has won second place for his poster entitled Investigating the limits of high-temperature superconductors for high radiation environments with the US-Japan HEP collaboration, at the US-Japan Hawaii Symposium of the US-Japan Science and Technology Cooperation Program

His poster features work on radiation damage on superconductors. https://conference-indico.kek.jp/event/119/overview

Congratulations Chris!! Well done!!

The abstract for his marvelous paper here:
Nb-based low-temperature superconductors have underpinned the successes of particle accelerator technology over the last few decades. High-temperature superconductors (HTS) open a wider application space, enabling new capabilities for High Energy Physics, High-Field Magnetic Fusion, NMR, neutron, and X-ray scattering. With complimentary goals, expertise, and tools, our team is improving the technological readiness of these novel materials. This collaboration is centered around two main tasks: Investigating HTS technologies for high-radiation environments and measuring/modeling AC loss and field quality of HTS accelerator magnets. The insulation studies implicit to the first task have yielded a simple and scalable method to remove delamination damage of HTS REBCO tapes and seen the irradiation of new epoxies to 20 Mgy. From task one we have also shown that irradiation of these tapes above 1.80E22 n/m2 completely destroys superconductivity. For task two, the team has been employing both experimental tests and modeling to understand the practical limits of REBCO coated conductors due to a quench and methods of alleviation, and field quality of canted-cosine-theta magnets made from a round REBCO cable

April 23, 2021April 22, 2021

Fuel Cycle Needs to Support Advanced Reactors

SPEAKER:

Christina J. Leggett, Ph.D.

Nuclear Engineering Technical Consultant Booz Allen Hamilton

DATE/TIME:

FRI, 04/23/2021 - 3:00PM TO 4:00PM

LOCATION:

zoom

Spring 2021 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

Now is an exciting time for the nuclear industry. Several advanced reactor designers are vying to enter the reactor market with a range of reactor designs, including molten salt reactors, high-temperature gas reactors, sodium fast reactors, and even microreactors. They range in size from a few megawatts to approximately 1 gigawatt, can operate at near atmospheric pressures and ultra-high temperatures, and use non-traditional coolants and fuels. Advanced reactors are also enjoying substantial bipartisan support, as evidenced by recent legislation and authorizations, and demonstrations of selected designs are being pursued DOE, DoD, and NASA. However, in order to help ensure the success of demonstrations and potential future deployments, the existing nuclear fuel cycle must evolve to meet the demands of these diverse designs. In addition, the novel fuel types and enrichments have presented new and unique challenges that need to be addressed. This presentation provides an overview and status of ongoing efforts to meet these needs and summarizes some of the challenges that also need to be addressed.

About the Speaker:

Christina Leggett is a nuclear engineering consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. In this role, she provides technical expertise to support new program development efforts at DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and manages R&D programs funded under ARPA-E’s nuclear fission portfolio. Prior to joining Booz Allen Hamilton, she worked as a nuclear engineer and program manager for the aqueous separations, pyroprocessing, and molten salt chemistry programs in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy. She also worked at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for five years as a Nuclear Engineer (criticality reviewer) in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and as a Reactor Systems Engineer in the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. She is an active Executive Committee member of the ANS Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Division, serving as the Program Chair and Awards Committee Chair. Christina holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California-Berkeley and is the author of several papers.

April 23, 2021April 22, 2021

Thinking differently about radiation damage: New methods of measurement using nuclear magnetic resonance.

SPEAKER:

Ian Farnan

Professor of Earth and Nuclear Materials in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge

DATE/TIME:

FRI, 04/23/2021 - 11:00AM TO 12:00PM

LOCATION:

zoom

Spring 2021 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

The effects of radiation damage are a constant source of concern in nuclear engineering. The need the need to achieve greater tolerance over the effects of radiation damage is fundamental to the roadmap for the implementation of next generation fission and fusion systems, but how well do we understand the scale of the initial damage event and its recovery? Results will be presented from ‘nuclearised’ nuclear magnetic resonance experiments that show that the number fraction of (permanently) displaced atoms may be determined directly by experimental measurement, in contrast to volume changes and inferred defect concentrations. This challenges some of the existing assumptions about the initial scale of disruption caused by damage events and reveals the importance of local chemistry in the recovery process.

About the Speaker:

Ian Farnan is Professor of Earth and Nuclear Materials in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge. His research is focused on the structure, durability and fabrication of nuclear materials and naturally occurring radioactive minerals and the underpinning science for the disposal of radioactive waste. He is the Consortium Lead for the CaFFE (Carbides for Future Fission Environments) UK EPSRC to examine new materials for accident tolerant fuels and led the UK NDA-EPSRC research programme on the suitability of UK AGR fuel for geological disposal. Dr Farnan is involved with the use of international facilities for radiochemical research and the development of analytical techniques at the facilities to support his research and the nuclear research community. He was coordinator of the Euratom FP7 programme EURACT-NMR and served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Environmental and Molecular Sciences Directorate of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (2007-15). He is Chair of Cambridge Nuclear Energy Centre and advises the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority on the disposal of high activity materials. Farnan has held a Visiting Professorship at Stanford University and visiting scientist positions at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and at the European Commission Institute for Transuranium Elements (JRC).

April 9, 2021March 16, 2021

Protactinium Production in Leading Thorium Fuel Cycles

SPEAKER:

Dr. Eva C. Uribe

senior systems research analyst at Sandia National Laboratories

DATE/TIME:

FRI, 04/09/2021 - 3:00PM TO 4:00PM

LOCATION:

zoom

SPRING 2021 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

Nuclear power from thorium fuel cycles is being explored around the world to extend uranium resource and to reduce the quantity of long-lived nuclear waste generated by civilian nuclear power production. Significant research and development efforts towards fuel cycles using thorium as the primary fertile material in place of uranium have occurred in India, Canada (Thorium Power), China (SINAP), Norway (ThorEnergy), the United States (Flibe, Thorcon), and elsewhere. Protactinium-233 is produced during the neutron irradiation of thorium-232 in a nuclear reactor. Protactinium-233 is a precursor to uranium-233, where uranium-233 is an accountable nuclear material under international nuclear safeguards. Currently, there are no conceptual approaches for monitoring and verifying protactinium-233 during thorium irradiation and spent fuel reprocessing. This presentation will describe a collaboration between researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify leading thorium fuel cycle candidates and to quantify protactinium production rates in those fuel cycles. Eva Uribe is an alumna of the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium, and she will also provide a brief overview of her early career since graduating from UC Berkeley.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Eva C. Uribe is a senior systems research analyst at Sandia National Laboratories. As a systems analyst, she teams across disciplines to provide unbiased and objective information and frameworks for decisionmakers to understand the risks, benefits, and unintended consequences of options within complex national security landscapes. Her current portfolio includes projects in advanced nuclear fuel cycle safeguards, spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, nuclear deterrence, nuclear nonproliferation, and cyber systems analysis. Prior to joining the laboratory in 2017, she was a Stanton Nuclear Security postdoctoral fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, where she investigated the implications of advanced spent fuel reprocessing capabilities in thorium fuel cycles on nuclear nonproliferation and the international safeguards regime. Eva graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Ph.D. in chemistry in 2016. She conducted her graduate research as an affiliate of the Heavy Element Nuclear and Radiochemistry Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her dissertation focused on understanding the interaction between aqueous actinide and lanthanide species and organically-modified, high-surface area mesoporous silica materials, using solid-phase nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. She also collaborated with the Goldman School of Public Policy to conduct policy analysis on the use of cross-domain deterrence in American foreign policy. Eva graduated from Yale University in 2011 with a B.S. in chemistry and a double major in political science. She was a Next Generation Safeguards Initiative intern in the Nonproliferation Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the summers of 2008 and 2009.