Georgia Institute of Technology has been awarded $3.1 million from the U.S.
Department of Energy for research and scholarships focused on nuclear energy. The
Obama Administration handed out a total of $47 million to 46 schools across the
country on May 8, 2012.
Daniel Poneman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, says $3.1 million will go
to three research projects at Georgia Tech focused on developing new and
advanced nuclear reactor designs and technologies, while addressing their cost,
safety, and security.
The money will also fund research examining new fuel and core designs as
well as two undergraduate scholarships and three graduate student fellowships.
With the support of this program, students will receive financial support to
pursue a degree in the nuclear field and gain the skills and experiences they
need to succeed in a nuclear science and engineering career.
Undergraduate students will receive a $5,000 scholarship, while fellowship
winners will receive $50,000 annually over the next three years in addition to
a summer internship at a National Laboratory. The selected students will study
a breadth of critical nuclear energy issues, from fuel cycle sustainability to
reactor efficiency and design.
The three research projects in the College of Engineering that were funded
include: “Uncertainty Quantification and Management for Multiscale Nuclear
Materials Modeling,” David McDowell, PI; “Nonlinear Ultrasonic
Techniques to Monitor Radiation damage in RPV and Internal Components,”
Lawrence Jacobs, PI; and “Fuel and Core Design Options to Overcome the
Heavy Metal Loading Limit,and Improve Performance and Safety of Liquid Salt
Cooled Reactors,” Bojan Petrovic, PI.
