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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.

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Kairos Power Commissions Fluoride Salt Purification Plant 

Kairos Power Commissions Fluoride Salt Purification Plant 

July 20th, 2022

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Kairos Power in conjunction with Materion Corporation, designed a molten salt purification plant that has just been commissioned at Materion’s campus in Ohio because Kairos Power requires a source of high-purity fluoride salt for testing in its molten salt reactor design, as well as to serve as the coolant in its grid-scale fluoride salt–cooled, high-temperature reactor.

Find out more here.

 

 

 

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Professors Abergel, Fratoni, Hosemann Receive U.S. Department of Energy NEUP Grants

Professors Abergel, Fratoni, Hosemann Received U.S. Department of Energy NEUP Grants

June 17th, 2022

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The Nuclear Engineering department received DOE Nuclear Energy related research awards of 4.7M$ as a lead institution and further funding as a collaborating institution. These funds will support several different research programs.

The Integrated Research Program lead by Professor Fratoni entitled "Bridging the gap between experiments and modeling
to improve the design of molten salt reactors".

The NEUP lead by Professor Abergel entitled "Advanced Screening Approaches for Accelerating Development of
Separations Technologies".

The NEUP lead by Professor Hosemann "High throughput mechanical testing of additively-manufactured materials" will utilize femto second laser ablation in combination with the automated microscale tensile tester to evaluate additive manufactured materials and generate data for quality control and ML approaches together with microstructure analysis.

The NEUP lead by Professor Hosemann "Science-Based Development of ASTM standard tests for graphite-based fuel pebbles" together with X-energy, ORNL and the University of Florida, will use conventional methods and develop new methods to obtain a fundamental understanding of the failure modes in pebble fuels during use and to quantify the failure rate to proctor quality control and predict performance.

Find out more here.

 

 

 

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Per Peterson Awarded the ANS Walter Zinn Medal 

Per Peterson Awarded the ANS Walter Zinn Medal 

June 9th, 2022

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Professor Per Peterson has been awarded the 2022 American Nuclear Society's Walter H. Zinn Medal in recognition of "his contributions to the development of technologies for passive safety in nuclear reactors, and his leadership to develop and commercialize fluoride salt–cooled high-temperature reactors".

The Walter H. Zinn Medal recognizes an individual for outstanding contributions to the advancement or implementation of nuclear technology. This award is to recognize notable and sustained technical contribution, leadership, or other service that has not been widely recognized, and is considered one of highest honors ANS has to give.

Find out more here.

Congratulations Professor Peterson!

 

 

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Kairos Power receives 2022 BloombergNEF Pioneer Award

Kairos Power receives 2022 BloombergNEF Pioneer Award

April 14th, 2022

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BloombergNEF has announced its twelve winners of the 2022 BNEF Pioneers program, including Department of Nuclear Engineering professor Per Peterson and alumni Mike Laufer and their team at Kairos Power. Kairos Power was recognized for its "novel advanced nuclear reactor technology to complement renewable energy sources". For over a decade, this program has sought to identify and highlight technological innovations that accelerate global decarbonization and halt climate change.

You can read more about this achievement here.

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UCBNE CUORE Collaboration and the Search for Matter

UCBNE CUORE Collaboration and the Search for Matter

April 6th, 2022

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"Search for Majorana neutrinos exploiting millikelvin cryogenics with CUORE" has been published in Nature. The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE, Italian for “heart”) is one of several next generation neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) experiments. Affilated with the published article include those from the UC Berkeley Department of Physics, the Nuclear Science Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Engineering Divison of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as well as the UC Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering.

The link to the article can be found here. And further coverage of the article can be found here.

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Raluca Scarlat Selected for U.S. Department of Energy’s Nuclear Advisory Team

Raluca Scarlat Selected for U.S. Department of Energy's Nuclear Advisory Team

February 9th, 2022

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Raluca Scarlat is among eleven members named to the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee, which advises the secretary and the assistant secretary for nuclear energy on current priorities in the department's programs. "A change in the structure and focus in NEAC will help DOE act more quickly and effectively to research advances in nuclear power to meet the nation's energy, environmental, and national security needs,” said Andy Griffith, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply Chain. NEAC is structured to provide input from multiple perspectives, with Raluca Scarlat representing the university perspective.

Raluca Scarlat is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, heads the SALT Laboratory at University of California Berkeley, and is the recipient of the ANS Mary Jane Oestmann Award. Professor Scarlat has expertise in high temperature chemistry and materials for advanced reactors, reactor design and safety analysis, and engineering ethics.

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Peter Hosemann, Professor and Chair chosen as 2022 TMS Brimacombe Medalist Award Winner

Peter Hosemann, Professor and Chair chosen as 2022 TMS Brimacombe Medalist Award Winner

February 10th, 2022

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The Brimacomb award award recognizes Professor Hosemann for his sustained excellence and achievements in materials science and engineering, and his record of continuing service to the profession. He received this award specifically for his contribution to micro and macroscale mechanical testing of irradiated materials and in-situ materials testing and continued dedication to TMS and education. Professor Hosemann is a dedicated member to the Minerals, Metals and Materials society which is also a professional home of a wide range of nuclear materials topics.........More Info about the award

The formal presentation of the award will be at the TMS-AIME Annual Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, March 3, during the TMS 2022 Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California. 

Congratulations Professor and Chair Peter Hosemann!

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The Berkeleyan Spotlight: Rebecca Abergel

Removing a potential MRI risk - literally

October 21, 2021

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Prof. Abergel had an article published in The Berkeleyan titled Removing a potential MRI risk - literally. 

"The first use of MRI to scan a patient’s body was in 1977. Today, more than 40 million MRI scans are carried out every year in the U.S. In about one out of three, patients get an infusion containing the metal gadolinium as a contrast agent to improve imaging.

But over the last 10 to 15 years, physicians have increasingly reported that contrast MRIs sometimes lead to potentially life-threatening complications, particularly in patients with certain types of kidney disease. The FDA issued a warning against contrast MRIs for patients with kidney disease." [read more]

Congratulations Professor Abergel

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Max Fratoni selected for the UC Berkeley Faculty Leadership Academy

Max Fratoni selected for the UC Berkeley Faculty Leadership Academy 

November 17 , 2021

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Professor Max Fratoni was selected for the UC Berkeley Fall 2022 Faculty Leadership Academy. This multidisciplinary leadership development program is intended for tenured faculty who are interested in developing skills and knowledge for leadership on the Berkeley campus.

Find out more about the Faculty Leadership Academy: https://evcp.berkeley.edu/programs-resources/faculty-leadership-academy and its selections for the Fall 2022 cohort: https://evcp.berkeley.edu/fall-2022-faculty-leadership-academy-cohort.

Congratulations Professor Fratoni!