Consortium for Enabling Technologies and Innovation

2024 ETI Workshop Successfully Concluded in Golden!

by

ETI consortium hosted the 2024 ETI Workshop at Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, on February 20-21. Over 80 participants representing university partners, national laboratories, and the government joined together to build and strengthen the research collaboration between the labs and the universities. The workshop also created and cultivated a research and education environment to support cross-cutting technologies across three thrust areas for nuclear nonproliferation. In addition to the welcome remarks, followed by technical talks, poster presentations, as well as recruitment session, and lab tour, this workshop had Dr. Siegfried Hecker, the fifth Director of LANL (1986~1997), to give a keynote speech in the Opening Session, and discuss “the movie Oppenheimer and beyond” in the Reception Session. This event is primarily in-person with hybrid option available for select participants. All presenters attended in-person. More details are available on the workshop website.

2024 LLNL Nuclear Security and Nonproliferation Summer School Call for Application

by

The 2024 NSSC-LLNL Nuclear Security and Nonproliferation Summer School is calling for application (due March 15, 2024). A group of ETI members attended the summer school in 2023. It features lectures and hands-on experimental modules covering various aspects of nuclear risk reduction. Participants formed teams to engage in hands-on experimental modules aimed at tackling challenges in warhead verification, emergency response, and nuclear forensics.

In the Warhead Verification module, scholars conducted neutron and gamma-ray measurements to confirm the presence or absence of nuclear and moderator materials before and after simulated dismantlement. The Emergency Response module challenged scholars to characterize an unidentified threat using passive neutron and gamma-ray measurements, alongside active interrogation techniques.

Lastly, in the Nuclear Forensics module, scholars investigated and trace the origins of nuclear and radiological materials through measuring radiation signatures and isotopic compositions of simulated nuclear samples.

Next Generation Titans: Natalie Cannon, ETI Student from Georgia Institute of Technology

by

Over the last three years, Energy Impact Center (EIC) have met with leading experts across climate and energy, mapping out challenges and opportunities to form the foundation for future work. This work features a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities within the field of nuclear energy and explores how the fundamentals of utilizing atomic energy yield orders of magnitude better performance and less waste over all alternatives. At Ep. 423, EIC conducted one-on-one interview with ETI graduate student Natalie Cannon from Georgia Institute of Technology, discussing:

  • Natalie’s last minute switch from film to STEM – How she settled on nuclear engineering.
  • An exploration of manufacturing techniques, finding mentors, and invaluable pieces of advice.
  • Natalie’s research and a dive into neutron noise, criticality, and robots.
  • Celebrating past accomplishments and looking toward what younger generations can help achieve in the future.

ETI Student Sarah Scott’s Research Work Selected as Cover of Sensors

by

Thermal tomography (TT) is a promising non-contact nondestructive imaging method for the detection of pores in metallic structures printed with the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing method. ETI student Sarah Scott from Duke University collaborating with Argonne National Laboratory introduces a novel multi-task learning (MTL) approach, which simultaneously performs a classification of synthetic TT images and segmentation of experimental scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. Synthetic TT images are obtained from computer simulations of metallic structures with subsurface elliptical-shape defects, while experimental SEM images are obtained from imaging of LPBF-printed stainless-steel coupons. The results of this study show that the MTL network performs better in both the classification and segmentation tasks, as compared to the conventional approach when the individual tasks are performed independently of each other. (view this paper)

Prof. Anna Erickson Honored with Two Awards!

by

Dr. Erickson, the ETI consortium director, and the Associate Chair for Research and Woodruff Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, has been honored with two awards from the American Nuclear Society (ANS).

She received the Arthur Holly Compton Award in Education from the Education, Training and Workforce Development Division (ETWDD), and the National Landis Young Member Engineering Award. She was formally recognized during the 2023 ANS Annual Meeting, held earlier this week in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Arthur Holly Compton Award in Education recognizes outstanding contributions to education in nuclear science and engineering. Dr. Erickson was selected for her pioneering academic achievements and extensive outreach endeavors in the field of nuclear engineering education, seamlessly integrating traditional classroom instruction, innovative experimentation, and cutting-edge distance education techniques to create a multidisciplinary, multi-platform educational experience for the 21st century.

The Landis Young Member Engineering Award recognizes outstanding achievement in which engineering knowledge has been effectively applied to yield an engineering concept, design, safety improvement, method of analysis, or product utilized in nuclear power research and development or commercial application. Dr. Erickson was selected for establishing the foundation for novel high-precision instrumentation for safety and security remote monitoring enabling successful development, deployment, and commercialization of advanced reactors with operational autonomy.