Online monitoring capabilities for harsh environments

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SPEAKER:
Shirmir D. Branch
Chemist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
DATE/TIME:
FRI, 09/30/2022 - 3:00PM TO 4:00PM
LOCATION:
3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL
Fall 2022 Colloquium Series
Abstract:

The application of online monitoring to harsh environments, such as nuclear waste streams or molten
salt reactors, presents the potential to enhance fundamental processes while significantly reducing
operation cost, risk, and time. Optical spectroscopy as an online monitoring tool serves as a rapid, non-
destructive method to accurately analyze, predict, and control chemical processes in a variety of
matrices. When applied to molten salt reactors, online monitoring can provide key fundamental
information that includes not only total concentration of target analytes, but also factors such as
oxidation state and speciation, which gives valuable and continuous insight into process conditions. This
capability serves as a powerful tool throughout the nuclear fuel cycle, which aids in meeting the needs
of next generation renewable energy.

About the Speaker:

Shirmir D. Branch is a Staff Chemist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Her current
work as PNNL is in research and development in Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry. Her research
interests include electrophoretic separations; the development of robust electrode sensor materials;
electroanalytical and spectroelectrochemical characterization in various harsh environments, including
molten salts. She completed her PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Cincinnati in 2018.
She traveled to PNNL in 2015 to complete research for her degree in the development of harsh
environment spectroelectrochemical sensors and became a staff scientist in 2018. Shirmir is also
volunteers with the American Chemical Society, as an executive committee member with the Richland
Local Section and with American Nuclear Society, as an executive committee member in the Nuclear
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management Division.

Watch live here

Emerging Applications in Materials Science and Advanced Manufacturing at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

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SPEAKER:
Manyalibo J. Matthews, Ph.D.
Division Leader, Materials Science Division
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
DATE/TIME:
FRI, 09/23/2022 - 3:00PM TO 4:00PM
LOCATION:
3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL
Fall 2022 Colloquium Series
Abstract:

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) defines severe accidents as “Accident conditions more severe than a design basis accident and involving significant core degradation”.  Fukushima-Daiichi, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island are well known examples, but there have actually been at least 19 such accidents. The speaker has researched and summarized these events for the IAEA and in a report for the Electric Power Research Institute. This talk will give a short overview of these severe accidents and lessons learned..

About the Speaker:

Manyalibo Matthews is the Division Leader for the Materials Science Division within the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate. His expertise includes laser materials processing, laser-matter interaction science, process optimization of advanced manufacturing, and high-speed in situ characterization methods.

Prior to his current role, Dr. Matthews served as Group Leader in the Materials Science Division and Program Group Leader for the Laser Material Interaction Group in the National Ignition Facility and Photon Science organization.

Before joining the Laboratory, Dr. Matthews was a member of the Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories, focusing on optical microspectroscopy and managing projects aimed at developing Passive Optical Network prototypes.

Dr. Matthews is currently a co-organizer for the Materials Research Society and Materials Science and Technology symposiums, a member of the Academic Advisory Board at Norfolk State University, and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America.

Peter Hosemann Lead PI of a New Fusion Energy Science Award 

Peter Hosemann Lead PI of a New Fusion Energy Science Award 

September 21st, 2022

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Professor Peter Hosemann is the lead PI of a new Fusion Energy Science award entitled "Measuring, Modeling and Managing Radiation Effects in High Helium Fusion Relevant Environments" in collaboration between UCB and UCSB. The team will investigate structural material for fusion applications in the years to come. The coupled extremes of radiation, stress, temperature pose a unique challenge in realizing fusion power.  The focus will be in understanding the materials degradation mechanism and enhance predictive capabilities for materials in fusion applications. Small scale mechanical testing coupled with microstructural analysis and modeling on ion beam and neutron irradiated materials will be a core element of the work.

APT study of radiation-induced segregation ferritic/martensitic steels after irradiation with high-energy protons and spallation neutrons

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SPEAKER:
Yong Dai
Laboratory for Nuclear Materials, Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
DATE/TIME:
FRI, 09/16/2018 - 3:00PM TO 4:00PM
LOCATION:
3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL
Fall 2022 Colloquium Series
Abstract:

Ferritic/martensitic (FM) and ODS steels have been extensively studied in various fission and fusion material R&D projects around the world. These steels are also candidate structural materials for high power spallation targets. Over the past two decades, a large number FM and ODS steels have been irradiated in a wide range of doses and temperatures in the targets of the Swiss Spallation Neutron Source (SINQ), with spectra of mixed high-energy protons and spallation neutrons. A large body of mechanical testing and transmission electron microscopy have been carried out. The results show that the mechanical properties and microstructures of SINQ-irradiated FM steels are quite different from those of steels irradiated with fission neutrons at doses above about 10 dpa. To better understand the irradiation-induced microstructural and chemical evolution, atom probe tomography studies were conducted on F82H, Eurofer 97 and ODS Eurofer steels irradiated to doses up to 20 dpa at temperatures up to 500°C. Topics include: 1) Radiation-induced segregation at grain boundaries of low and high angles, 2) Radiation-induced formation and evolution of nanoparticles, and 3) Spallation products and associated microstructures. In this talk, the major results will be presented.

About the Speaker:

Yong Dai is a senior scientist at the Nuclear Materials Laboratory of the Paul Scherer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland, and an associate editor of Elsevier's Journal of Nuclear Materials. In 1995 he received his Ph.D. at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne. He has been with PSI since 1995 and led a team working on materials related to spallation neutron sources. He is responsible for irradiation experiments on targets at the Swiss Spallation Neutron Source (SINQ), in which about 20 international institutes and universities have participated. His research work focuses on the effects of radiation damage, helium, hydrogen and liquid metals on various structural materials and pure metals.

UCBNE Graduate Students Send Equipment and Expertise to Ransacked Chernobyl

UCBNE Graduate Students Send Equipment and Expertise to Ransacked Chernobyl

September 14th, 2022

3D visualization of the residual radiation in the town of Pripyat. (Reconstruction by Kalie Knecht, UCBNE graduate student )
3D visualization of the residual radiation in the town of Pripyat. (Reconstruction by Kalie Knecht, UCBNE graduate student )

A recent article published in BerkeleyNews describes the contribution of UCBNE graduate students Jake Hecla, Michael Bondin, and others to the relief efforts at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, including refurbishing and sending critical equipment. UCBNE work at Chernoybl dates back many years and includes the use of technology to visualize radiation levels and contamination.

Further coverage can be found here.

Applying chemical biology to expand the range of actionable targets for nuclear medicine applications

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SPEAKER:
Dr. Michael Evans
Associate Professor in Residence, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, UCSF
DATE/TIME:
FRI, 09/09/2022 - 3:00PM TO 4:00PM
LOCATION:
Webinar
Fall 2022 Colloquium Series

 

About the Speaker:

Michael Evans, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Residence in the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. He is a chemical biologist with an interest in biomarker discovery with proteomics, nuclear medicine, theranostics, and molecular imaging. Dr. Evans earned a BA in Chemistry from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and he obtained his PhD in Organic Chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute (CA) under the supervision of Professor Benjamin Cravatt. This was followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular Imaging from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York under the supervision of Professors Charles Sawyers and Jason Lewis. In 2013, Dr. Evans accepted a faculty position at UCSF. Dr. Evans has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles, 40 meeting abstracts, and is a co-inventor on 8 patents pending or issued. Dr. Evans also is the principal investigator or co-PI on several human trials focused on new strategies for imaging tumors. He is a scientific co-founder and previously served on the scientific advisory board of ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and is a scientific co-founder of Suba Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Evans has been recognized with numerous honors, including a Young Investigator Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation, a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Cancer Institute, a Research Scholar Award from the American Cancer Society, and he was a 2020 inductee to the Council of Distinguished Investigators by the Academy of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research.

Graduate Student Sarah Stevenson Awarded ANS Congressional Fellowship

Graduate Student Sarah Stevenson Awarded ANS Congressional Fellowship

September 8th, 2022

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UCBNE Ph.D. candidate Sarah Stevenson has been selected for the 2023 ANS Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship. For the first time in the history of the fellowship, two memebrs have been chosen, Stevenson alongside GE-Hitach Joseph Orellana.

Harsh S. Desai, chair of the ANS Congressional Fellowship Committee and a former Congressional Fellow says "With two Fellows on the Hill next year, ANS will be in a unique position to provide significant technical assistance to the U.S. Congress on nuclear science, energy, and technology . With the increased focus on clean energy deployment and ensuring domestic energy security in Washington, D.C., Stevenson and Orellana’s different perspectives from their industry, academia, and national lab experiences will be invaluable."

Further coverage can be found here.

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