Education

The Department of Energy has released a notice of a funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0003422) for the department’s Office of Environmental Management Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program (MSIPP). With an estimated value of $15.5 million, the funding opportunity is a set-aside for minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and will result in multiple financial assistance awards ranging from one year to three years in length.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a construction permit yesterday to Abilene Christian University, giving ACU and its partners the go-ahead to build the Molten Salt Research Reactor (MSRR) facility on its Abilene, Texas, campus. The 1-MWt research reactor is the first molten salt–fueled reactor to get a construction permit from the NRC. After Kairos Power’s Hermes, it is the second non–light water reactor construction permit issued by the NRC.

Corey Hines

Current and future decarbonization goals necessitate robust and reliable energy generation solutions with high capacity factors to serve as baseload sources of clean energy. Next-generation advanced reactor and small modular reactor designs have driven new technology, training regimes, and new reactor design and implementation of solutions associated with new design concepts and scale.

Research and teaching institutions like Washington State University are responding to help meet the needs of future nuclear research and development and fill in workforce gaps by preparing the next generation of workers in nuclear science and engineering. Domestic university research reactors provide an unparalleled teaching and training tool and are an R&D force multiplier for enhanced nuclear skillset development and training. Investing in research reactors and the important mission they serve benefits nuclear research both domestically and globally. Research reactors offer low-cost, safe, real-world job training and provide the experimentation platforms necessary to advance and meet demands of ongoing and future work in the nuclear sector that transcends traditional nuclear R&D.

Two universities in the Carolinas are collaborating in a program that pairs one school’s unique resources with hardworking students. The seeds of this partnership were sown 12 years ago, and now North Carolina State University is welcoming nuclear engineering seniors from South Carolina State University, giving them access to the PULSTAR, a research reactor designed, built, and operated by NC State.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy is making $6 million available in scholarships and fellowships for students pursuing nuclear energy-related degrees across the United States. The funding is provided through the DOE’s University Nuclear Leadership Program (UNLP). 

Holston

Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) and the charitable educational organization Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness (CNTA) have announced that Micah Holston, a student at Kennesaw State University, is the winner of the 2024 Robert Maher Memorial Scholarship.

The $5,000 scholarship is sponsored by SRMC, the liquid waste contractor for the Department of Energy at the Savannah River Site.

The winner: Holston, a senior from Marietta, Ga., is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in physics and political science with minors in nuclear engineering, math, and international affairs. CNTA executive director Allison Hamilton Molnar said the organization is proud to award this scholarship to such a deserving student.

Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, was the site of an advanced nuclear reactor workshop in late May that was hosted by the Fastest Path to Zero Initiative of the University of Michigan and Tohoku’s Center for Fundamental Research on Nuclear Decommissioning. The event was co-organized by the U.S. Consulate in Sapporo, Japan, and the Atlantic Council, which is associated with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The workshop, “The Potential Contribution of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technologies to the Decarbonization and Economic Development of Japan and the U.S.,” featured numerous American and Japanese academic authorities, government policymakers, executives of utilities and advanced reactor developers, and leaders of nongovernmental organizations. Also participating were students from both the University of Michigan and Tohoku University.

North Carolina State University is hosting the inaugural Future Leaders in Nuclear: Undergraduate Symposium in early October at its campus in Raleigh. The event for rising juniors and seniors in nuclear engineering or related science and engineering fields will give attendees the opportunity to present their research.

The first Harper Academy 4 Future Nuclear Engineers was held recently at the University of Michigan. The four-week program provided eight rising high school seniors with classes in nuclear engineering fundamentals, mathematics, technical skills, design, community engagement, and college preparation. While taking the course, the students stayed at Bursley Hall on the university’s Ann Arbor campus.

The American Nuclear Society is excited to announce the launch of its inaugural Nuclear 101 certificate course, scheduled to take place in-person at the 2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo this November. This comprehensive five-day program is designed to provide participants with a robust understanding of nuclear energy and engineering, delivered by some of the field's foremost experts.

Fifty-five high schoolers representing 14 Asian countries participated in an inaugural nuclear science competition earlier this month in the Philippines.

The event was held in the run-up to the United Nations’ International Youth Day, which is celebrated worldwide on August 12 to recognize and encourage the potential of young people as active partners in the global society. The nuclear field presents many opportunities for the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Constellation is taking applications for its 2024 E² Energy to Educate grant program, which provides funding for student projects focusing on energy innovation.

Educators and students in grades 6–12 can apply for program grants of up to $25,000, and those in two- and four-year colleges can apply for grants of up to $50,000.

Imagine a place where children and adults can learn together about nuclear science as a carbon-free energy source that can be an answer to climate change. Guests can experience a cloud chamber, remotely inspect equipment with a drone, and hold a simulated low-enriched uranium fuel pellet. On Saturday, July 6, such a place actually existed for three hours. That place was the Discovery Place Science Museum in Charlotte, N.C. Ryan Leung, a Discovery Place experience specialist, led a team of local nuclear energy industry volunteers and representatives from the American Nuclear Society and Women in Nuclear to organize and execute an Energy Summit.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has announced the opening of this year’s application process for its Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Program (MSCFP), which is designed to “inspire and encourage young women to pursue a career in the nuclear field, by providing highly motivated female students with scholarships for master’s programs and an opportunity to pursue an internship facilitated by the IAEA,” according to the program description.

Jenifer Shafer, the associate director for technology at the Advanced Research Projects Agency­–Energy (ARPA-E), recently delivered a TEDx talk in which she explained the basic concepts of nuclear waste recycling, including related nonproliferation issues. As Shafer wrote in a post on LinkedIn, “In my talk, I explored the misconceptions surrounding nuclear waste and discuss[ed] the possible emerging opportunities regarding nuclear fuel recycling. It’s crucial that we understand the real potential of nuclear energy, and leveraging our ‘nuclear treasure,’ in shaping a sustainable future.”

Robert Roche-Rivera and Marcos Rolón-Acevedo are licensed professional engineers who work at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They are also alumni of the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez (UPRM) and have been sharing their knowledge and experience with students at their alma mater since last year, serving as adjunct professors in the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. During the 2023–2024 school year, they each taught two courses: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Nuclear Power Plant Engineering.

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation has awarded a total of $50 million in cooperative agreements to the Consortium for Enabling Technologies and Innovation and the Enabling Capabilities in Technology Consortium. These two university/national lab consortia are each to receive as much as $5 million per year for five years to help support their basic and applied science research, which, in turn, will support the nuclear security and nonproliferation missions of the NNSA and workforce development for the Department of Energy’s national laboratories.

The American Nuclear Society President’s Special Committee on Certification is continuing to make progress toward launching a nuclear certification program. The program, which was outlined to the ANS Board of Directors in 2023, is being designed to help establish industry standards and bridge workforce gaps in the nuclear sector to address the growing demand for qualified professionals in the nuclear industry.

A computer rendering of a tokamak device designed by students at the University of New South Wales. (Credit: UNSW)

A recent article on Australia’s ABC News website highlighted the work of undergraduate physics and engineering students at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) to design, build, and operate their own small nuclear fusion reactor. The ambitious work, known as the AtomCraft project, is being led by associate professor Patrick Burr with the objective of producing a student-built tokamak reactor by the end of 2026.

Australia-based HB-11 Energy and U.K.-based Tokamak Energy have partnered with UNSW for the project.

Research goals: The AtomCraft project has the following research goals for participating students, according to its website:

Our team aims [to] make the world’s first fusion reactor entirely designed, built, and operated by students. And [to] do so in 2 years. You will develop innovative solutions to engineering challenges across many engineering disciplines, work closely with industry partners, and be part a vibrant team of enthusiastic and dedicated people who want to push the boundaries of what is possible with fusion energy.

Results of two new surveys have shed light on American public opinion regarding nuclear energy. The surveys, which were conducted with very different methods, offer generally encouraging news for the nuclear industry.