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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
Colin Judge: Testing structural materials in Idaho’s newest hot cell facility
Idaho National Laboratory’s newest facility—the Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL)—sits across the road from the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), which started operating in 1975. SPL will host the first new hot cells at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) in 50 years, giving INL researchers and partners new flexibility to test the structural properties of irradiated materials fresh from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) or from a partner’s facility.
Materials meant to withstand extreme conditions in fission or fusion power plants must be tested under similar conditions and pushed past their breaking points so performance and limitations can be understood and improved. Once irradiated, materials samples can be cut down to size in SPL and packaged for testing in other facilities at INL or other national laboratories, commercial labs, or universities. But they can also be subjected to extreme thermal or corrosive conditions and mechanical testing right in SPL, explains Colin Judge, who, as INL’s division director for nuclear materials performance, oversees SPL and other facilities at the MFC.
SPL won’t go “hot” until January 2026, but Judge spoke with NN staff writer Susan Gallier about its capabilities as his team was moving instruments into the new facility.
Award Title
Authors
Paper Title
Best Paper Award
Lauren Kohler, Jason Clifford, Nusrat Karim, Sivananddan Harilal, Elizabeth Kautz, and Xu Wu
ML-LIBS: Machine Learning-Based Spectra Predictions of Time Dependent Lithium Emission Spectroscopy Imaging
Trevor Franklin, Fande Kong, Paul Humrickhouse, Casey Icenhour, Pierre-Clément Simon, and Lane Carasik
New Developments and Verification of the Fusion Blanket Simulation Capabilities in the MOOSE Framework
Carolina Dutra and Elia Merzari
Direct Numerical Simulation of a
Sodium Fast Reactor Assembly
Best Poster Award (UG)
Alexandra Martinez, Lauren Bailey, and Courtney Mace
Model Development of a Hydrogen Cooled Multi-Pin Particle Bed Reactor
Best Poster Award (G)
Brad Nethercutt, Daniel Holcomb, and Marek Flaska
Simulations of Prompt-Gamma Response to Epithermal-Neutron Activation for Nuclear Forensics
Best Lightning Talk Award (UG)
Thomas Minor
Characterizing Neutron Background Radiation
Within Traffic Tunnels
Best Lightning Talk Award (G)
Nelson Snow and Christopher Reynolds
Machine Learning Optimization for Monte Carlo Particle Simulation of an NDA Technique
Best Presentation Award in Radiation Detection and Imaging (UG)
Scout Bucks and Marek Flaska
Development of an Empirical Correlation for the Manganese Sulfate Bath Neutron Absorption Fraction
Best Presentation Award in Radiation Detection and Imaging (G)
Aamer A. Bashir and Marek Flaska
High-Resolution Alpha-Particle Detector Using Low-Cost Silicon PIN Photodiodes
Best Presentation Award in Radiation Protection & Medical Physics (UG)
Shereen Aissi and Shannon O’Reilly
Dosimetric Effect of 2 vs 3 Treatment Fields in Pencil Beam
Scanning Proton Therapy Treatment Planning for Lung Cancer
Best Presentation Award in Radiation Protection & Medical Physics (G)
Furkan Erdogan, Reza Mohammadi, and Jessika Rojas
Radiation Shielding Efficiency of Super-Hard Tungsten Tetraboride Nanoparticle-Reinforced Epoxy Composites
Best Presentation in Reactor Physics (UG)
Geneve Magnan, Sam Schiavo, Isabella Wood, Junsu Kang, Sefa Bektas, Volkan Seker, and Thomas Downar
Toward Optimization of Horizontal Compact High-Temperature Gas Reactor Core Loading Pattern
Best Presentation in Reactor Physics (G)
Mahmoud Eltawila and April J. Novak
Coupled Multiphysics Modeling of the Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY)
Best Presentation Award in Thermal Hydraulics (UG)
Scout Bucks, Christopher Balbier, and Saya Lee
Comparison of Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors and
Thermocouples at Sodium Heat Pipe Operating Temperatures
Best Presentation Award in Thermal Hydraulics (G)
Theodore Chu, Trevor Franklin, and Lane B. Carasik
LES at Low Richardson Number to Investigate Thermal Stratification in SFRs Upper Plenums
Best Presentation Award in Nuclear Technology in Society & Education
John Mobley IV
Exploration of Multidisciplinary Student Sentiments
Best Presentation Award in Power Reactor Reliability Operations & Safety
Lauren Kohler, Noah Etter, Nolan Ritchie and Mihai Diaconeasa
Enhancing Probabilistic Risk Assessment for the PULSTAR
Research Reactor with Advanced Fault Tree and Initiating Event Analysis Techniques
Best Presentation Award in Computational Methods, Machine Learning & AI (UG)
Eliot Ciuperca, Juliana Pacheco Duarte, and Bruno Pinheiro Serrao
Parameter Importances from Random Forest Machine Learning for Accident Tolerant Fuel Pool Boiling
Best Presentation Award in Computational Methods, Machine Learning & AI (G)
Luiz C. Aldeia Machado, Victor Coppo Leite, Elia Merzari, Lesley Wright, Pramatha Bhat, Yassin Hassan, Lander Ibarra, and Roberto Ponciroli
Convolutional Neural Networks Applied to the Temperature Reconstruction of Heated Surfaces.
Best Presentation Award in Fuel Cycles, Waste Management & Decomissioning
Ben Impson, Braden Goddard, and Zeyun Wu
An INDEPTH Analysis of Spent Pebbles
Best presentation Award in Fusion & Plasma Physics (UG)
Collin Jeckell and Nick Connolly
Analysis of Fluoroelastomer and Perfluoroelastomer Degradation in Various Plasma Conditions
Best presentation Award in Fusion & Plasma Physics (G)
Cheng Zhang and Gennady Miloshevsky
MHD Modeling of Splashing of Beryllium Melt in Tokamak Reactor using OpenFOAM
Best Presentation Award in Nonproliferation, Security & Safeguards (UG)
Christine George
Applications of Comprehensive Visual Transport Security
Risk Model to Enhance Nuclear Security Regime
Best Presentation Award in Nonproliferation, Security & Safeguards (G)
Branko Kovacevic, Andre Soares,
William Walters, and Amanda Johnsen
Application of Machine Learning
for Molten Salt Reactors Safeguards
Best Presentation Award in Nuclear Advocacy and Policy
Robert Riley
Memes, The Apocalypse, and New Generation Perspectives on Nuclear Science and Nuclear Power
Best Presentation Award in Nuclear Fuels & Materials (UG)
Michael Trombetta
Radioisotope Retention in Molten Lead for LFR Source Term
Best Presentation Award in Nuclear Fuels & Materials (G)
Levko Higgins
A Nanoscale Analysis of the Effects of Helium Radiation Dispersion Strengthened Tungsten with Carbides
Best Presentation Award in Robotics & Remote Systems
Aaron Belman-Wells, Giuliano F. Basso, and Caleb M. Bush
A Compton Imaging Detector Integrated With a Robotic System as a Radiation Survey Tool
Best Presentation Award in Criticality Safety
Bradley Moore, Lorelei Uptmore, Dallas Moser
Parametric Reflector Study for Moderated and Unmoderated Critical Fissile Systems
Best Presentation Award in Space Nuclear Propulsion Applications
Joeseph Rumbaugh, Alexander Lesko, Gabrielle Hall, and Marissa Massey
Radiation Mapping of a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion System
Last modified April 11, 2024, 10:56am EDT
