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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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Hi Vo, our former grad student and NSSC fellow awarded a LANL directors funded post doc.

Hi Vo, our former grad student and NSSC fellow awarded a LANL directors funded post doc.

February 11th, 2022

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Across all divisions, the LANL postdocs went through a competitive process in order to be selected for the fellowship based on previous research merit and the strength of the postdoc research proposal.
Director Postdoc fellowship provides full, 2/3, 1/3 funding for each subsequent year to support Hi Vo's research proposal.
Hi Vo's Director funded research proposal is on the exploration of unit and collective plastic deformation processes using in situ 4DSTEM mechanical testing and 3D-EBSD.

Congratulations Hi Vo! What a wonderful achievement!

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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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With great sadness of the passing of Hans Mark

With great sadness of the passing of Hans Mark

January 5th, 2022

Portrait of DoD Mr. Mark Hans Director, Defense Research and Engineering (U.S. Army photo by Mr. Scott Davis) (Released) (PC-193032)

Hans Mark, who served as chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and administrator of the Berkeley Research Reactor from 1964 to 1969, died Saturday, Dec. 18, at the age of 92. Mark was a giant in his field, serving as NASA Deputy Administrator, Secretary of the Air Force, Director of Defense Research and Engineering in the Department of Defense, and Chancellor of the University of Texas system. He was a Berkeley alum and a long-time benefactor of the department. Read more about his remarkable life and work here.

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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!

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UCBNE Graduate Student Jaewon Lee Wins 3rd Place at IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference

UCBNE Graduate Student Jaewon Lee Wins 3rd Place at IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference

November 3 , 2021

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UCBNE graduate student Jaewon Lee won 3rd place in the student competition of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference that took place on October 16th-23rd, 2021.

His submission, "Single Detector 3D Source Imaging Using a Kullback-Leibler Divergence Based Prior", improves the ability in the localization and mapping of radioactive materials in three dimensions in unconstrained environments overcoming challenges in conventional approaches.

In addition to Jaewon's presentation, eight other students of the Berkeley Applied Nuclear Physics program gave presentations: Kalie Knecht, Yifan Zheng, Ivan Cho, Jake Hecla, Robin Peter, Chris Lamb, Matt Marshall, and Michael Bondin.

Read more about the IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference here.

Congratulations Jaewon!

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UCBNE students attend the 2021 Washington Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation (NESD)

UCBNE students join the 2021 Washington Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation

October 8th, 2021

The whole Washington Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation (NESD)
The whole Washington Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation (NESD)

Sarah Stevenson (4th year Ph.D. student), Malachi Nelson (2nd year Ph.D. student) and Laura Shi (senior undergraduate) represented UCB NE at the 2021 Washington Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation (NESD) from September 26th through October 1st.

The Washington NESD is an independently organized program with the goal of allowing students studying nuclear science and engineering to acquire hands-on experience with the political process to learn how they can make a positive impact on the future of nuclear energy, policy, education, and research. This year’s delegation was composed of 17 students from 12 universities with the largest representation from UC Berkeley.

The delegation met with representatives from key institutions such as the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the American Nuclear Society, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, ClearPath, and ThirdWay. Members of the delegation also met with their local representatives, including Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA 13th District) to discuss the importance of investing in the future of nuclear education and energy in the Bay Area.

This experience gave delegates the opportunity to gain new perspectives on insights on the US policy-making process. The delegation also worked together to create a policy memo that conveyed the student’s views on nuclear energy, education, and research and advocated for the passage of active legislation. To read the policy memo and learn more about the delegation, please visit www.nesd.org.

Malachi Nelson, Sarah Stevenson, and Laura Shi
Sarah Stevenson after a long day of Congressional meetings on Capitol Hill
Sarah Stevenson and Laura Shi visiting the National Mall
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Kairos submits PSAR for Oak Ridge demonstration reactor

Kairos submits PSAR for Oak Ridge demonstration reactor

October 5th, 2021

A rendering of the Hermes demonstration plant at Oak Ridge (Image: Kairos Power)
A rendering of the Hermes demonstration plant at Oak Ridge (Image: Kairos Power)

World Nuclear News reported an update on Kairos' progress on constructing the Hermes low-power demonstration reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As a part of their construction permit application, the US company (co-founded by UCB Professor Per Peterson, Michael Laufer, and Edward Blandford), has submitted the preliminary safety analysis report (PSAR) for its fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR) to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Kairos established a cooperative development agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority earlier this year, and will collaborate with Materion Corporation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and the Electric Power Research Institute on the development and demonstration for Hermes. The development is also supported over seven years by a US Department of Energy Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program cost-shared award.

World Nuclear News stated that along with Kairos, there are 6 other non-light water reactor designers that have formally notified the NRC of their intent to engage in regulatory interactions. Namely "General Atomics for the Energy Multiplier Module; X-Energy for the XE-100; TerraPower and GE Hitachi for the Natrium reactor; TerraPower for its Molten Chloride Fast Reactor; Westinghouse Electric Company for its eVinci micro reactor; and Terrestrial Energy USA for its Integral Molten Salt Reactor."

[Full World Nuclear News article here]

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Three UCBNE Alumni Receive NSSC Awards

Three UCBNE Alumni Receive NSSC Awards

September 3rd, 2021

From Left to Right: Hi Vo, Kelly Kmak, Mark Straub
From Left to Right: Hi Vo, Kelly Kmak, Mark Straub

Three UCBNE alumni have been awarded the 2021 Nuclear Science and Security Consortium's Awards for Outstanding Publication and Outstanding Thesis.

Mark Straub (PhD in Chemistry awarded May 14, 2021) won for Best Reviewed Publication with "Recent Advances in Nuclear Forensic Chemistry", which was featured as a cover article in a special issue of Analytical Chemistry. Read more about this article here.

Kelly Kmak (PhD awarded May 14, 2021) won for Outstanding Thesis for Radiochemistry and Forensics with “Investigation of the 230Th(p,2n)229Pa Reaction as a Route to 225Ac”.

Hi Vo (PhD awarded May 14, 2021) won for Outstanding Thesis for Nuclear Engineering with “Influence of Defects’ Mechanical Stability on Microscale Plasticity and Failure”.

The NSSC Outstanding Publication Award is awarded annually by the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium to the lead author(s) of an outstanding peer-reviewed paper published in the areas of basic and applied science and engineering supporting the nation’s nuclear security and nonproliferation mission.

The NSSC Outstanding Thesis Award is awarded annually by the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium to scholars who have completed an exceptional thesis in the areas of basic and applied science and engineering supporting the nation’s nuclear security and nonproliferation mission.

These highly competitive awards honor NSSC Fellows and Affiliates for their excellent contributions to nuclear security science.