2021-22 Impact Report: Nuclear Engineering

NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

SUMMARY

The Naval Academy’s Nuclear Engineering program (ENR) takes pride in its ability to prepare future Navy and Marine Corps officers to lead in the operation and maintenance of highly technical engineering systems. Whether in surface ships, submarines or aircraft squadrons, Naval Academy graduates excel in a variety of career assignments both ashore and at sea.

This program is designed so that the knowledge and skills acquired while on the Yard transfer directly to the challenges that officers face in the naval service and civilian life. Thanks to private gifts, the department can enhance these educational experience funds for project materials, conferences, site visits and collaborative opportunities with professional organizations.

For the safety of students and faculty, the Naval Academy limited the number of opportunities off the Yard and

restricted many in-person events. However, the Nuclear Engineering department continued to utilize the resources provided to ensure that midshipmen received the best possible support.

NUCLEAR ENGINEERING MAJORS

2022: 16 MAJORS (8 double in Mechanical Engineering)

2023: 20 MAJORS (2 double in Mechanical Engineering)

2024: 31 MAJORS (14 double in Mechanical Engineering)

20 MAJORS (double majors TBD)

AWARDS

ENS Young-Uk Kim ’22, USN received the Captain Fredrick A Edwards Sr, Class of 1932 Prize, awarded annually to the midshipman with the highest grade point average majoring in Nuclear Engineering.

2022 American Nuclear Society Conference—Awards

Six Nuclear Engineering majors will be attending

Naval Post Graduate School:

ENS NOAH H. BYRNE ’22, USN

ENS ALEXANDER E. CARTER ’22, USN

ENS NICHOLAS I. KENNEDY ’22, USN

ENS KATELYN N. MAJORS ’22, USN

ENS NATHAN J. MATALAVAGE ’22, USN

ENS VICTOR H. WANG ’22, USN

These students were also Bowman Scholars during the 2021–2022 academic year.

BOWMAN SCHOLARS PROGRAM

Each year, a small group of Naval Academy midshipmen second-class (juniors), who are seeking initial service assignments in the nuclear Navy, may be offered the opportunity to compete for appointments as Admiral Frank Bowman Scholars. The program has four components including a research project, summer internship, graduate education, and early selection in the Nuclear Navy.

Three Nuclear Engineering majors from class of 2023 were selected as Bowman Scholars:

MIDN GIANLUCA C. FRESCHI ’23, USN

MIDN SIDNEY HALL-SMITH ’23, USN

MIDN STEPHEN STOKES ’23, USN

BEHRENS FAMILY SCHOLARS

Each selected scholar must provide a development plan to include project-based learning elements such as senior capstone projects and other research projects, internship opportunities and plans, attendance at industry conferences such as the annual American Nuclear Society Student Conference, and visit plans to nuclear power plants and Navy-relevant laboratories and facilities.

Two midshipmen were selected to become Behrens Family Scholars:

MIDN SIDNEY HALL-SMITH ’23, USN

MIDN MICHAEL BRANDT ’24, USN

In fall 2021 and spring 2022 American Nuclear Society (ANS) student chapter dinner meetings were afforded to midshipmen due to philanthropic support. Roughly 100 midshipmen attend each of these meetings at Buddy’s Crabs & Ribs, in Annapolis.

INTERNSHIPS SUMMER 2022

A large percentage of nuclear engineering majors will attend one or more internships during their academic career.

In summer 2022, midshipmen participated in the following internship opportunities:

Naval Nuclear Power Research at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory (Pittsburgh, PA)

Focused on advanced nuclear propulsion technology, data analytics, and simulations

Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) (Oak Ridge, TN)

Focused on SCALE Development and Testing

Dept of Energy (DoE)—Mission Support and Test Services (MSTS) at the Remote Sensing Laboratory of the Nevada National Security Site (Las Vegas, NV)

Focused on Nuclear Instruments and Detection

High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) and Navy Defense Supercomputing Research Center (DSRC) (Stennis Space Center)

Focused on Flow Phenomena and Simulations

Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) (Monterey, CA)

Focused on nuclear studies via a variety of projects

Naval Surface Warfare Center—Weapon Effects and Analysis Division (Indian Head MD)

Focused on Collateral Concerns for Nuclear Weapon Effects

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL - DOE) (Livermore, CA)

Focused on multiple projects (Physics-sponsored)

Sandia National Laboratory (SNL - DOE) (Albuquerque, NM or Livermore, CA)

Focused on multiple projects (Physics-sponsored)

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL - DOE) (Los Alamos, NM)

Focused on multiple projects (Physics-sponsored)

RESEARCH PROJECTS

*Nuclear Engineering Majors and Nuclear Related Projects, midshipmen in bold font

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

E. Getto, M. Johnson, M. Maughn, N. Nathan*, J. McMahan*, B. Baker, K. Knipling, S. Briggs, K. Hattar, M.J. Swenson, “Friction stir welding and self-ion irradiation effects on microstructure and mechanical properties changes within oxide dispersion strengthened steel MA956” Journal of Nuclear Materials 567 (2022) 153795

E. Getto, N. Nathan*, J. McMahan*, B. Baker, S. Taller, “Understanding Radiation Effects in Friction Stir Welded MA956 using Ion Irradiation and a Rate Theory Model” Journal of Nuclear Materials 561 (2022) 153530. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153530

E. Getto, N. Nathan*, J. McMahan*, B. Bakerand, S. Taller, “Contextualizing dispersoid evolution within the microstructure of MA956 using ion irradiation” Nuclear Materials and Energy 28 (2021) 101024. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.nme.2021.101024

S.R. McHale, M.M. Millett, M.I. Prince*, “Impact of the ENDF/B-VIII.0 library on MCNP6.2-computed ambient and personal dose equivalent conversion coefficients” submitted to Radiation Protection Dosimetry on 3 June 2022, under review.

CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS

E. Getto, M. Koul, T. Gray, J. McLaughin, E. Farnan*, J. Gibbs, R.J. Santucci, Jr, “Elucidating the Effect of Build and Build Direction on the Corrosion of Selective Laser

Sintered Additively Manufactured 316L Stainless Steel” Accepted Environmental Degradation 2022

S. Hall-Smith*, L. Schoffstall*, P. Joyce, E. Getto, “Gamma Irradiation of 3D Printed Polymers” American Nuclear Society Student Conference 2021; April 2021, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

AMERICAN NUCLEAR SOCIETY (ANS) STUDENT CONFERENCE

USNA sent a delegation of 13 midshipmen and one 2021 graduate to the 2022 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Student Conference held at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:

MIDN 1/C SARA PERKINS: Best Undergraduate Presentation in the Detection and Measurement technical track

MIDN 1/C AMELIA SCIGLIANO: Best Presentation in Education, Training, and Workforce Development technical track

MIDN 1/C MAYA SOLIS (POLITICAL SCIENCE): Best Presentation in Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy technical track

MIDN 1/C NATHAN MATALAVAGE: represented the Martian Home capstone team and was awarded 1st Prize for the Poster Presentation

MIDN 1/C SARA PERKINS was also presented with an ANS Commendation for her service as President of the USNA ANS Student Chapter

OTHER STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

MIDN 1/C AMELIA SCIGLIANO: Liquid Nitrogen cooled cloud chamber for education and outreach. Won best undergraduate education and outreach presentation at ANS student conference. Only publication was the paper for the ANS student conference.

MIDN 1/C SARA PERKINS:

Local calibration of neutron sources via capture gamma detection. Won best undergraduate detection and measurement presentation at ANS student conference. Only publication was the paper for the ANS student conference. Marshal was secondary advisor for this project.

ENS EVA KNOWLES ’21, USN:

Using MCNP to reanalyze the cause of the Woods River Junction criticality accident. She was actually a 2021 grad, but she did research while she was a TAD with us in the summer and fall of AY22. Only publication was the paper for the ANS student conference.

ENS NATHAN J. MATALAVAGE ’22, USN: Evaluating organic scintillators for use with unmanned aerial vehicles. Only publication was the paper for the ANS student conference. Marshall was secondary advisor for this project in the fall and primary advisor for this project in the spring.

ENS NICHOLAS I. KENNEDY ’22, USN: Determining ship effect background radiation in the underhull environment. Only publication was the paper for the ANS student conference. Won best independent research award for spring semester. Marshall was secondary advisor for this project in the fall and primary advisor for this project in the spring.

2022 American Nuclear Society Conference—University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

NUCLEAR CAPSTONE PROJECTS

1. ATOMIC ASSOCIATES: NUCLEAR POWERED ROCKET

MIDN 1/C: Alex Carter, Brandon Cuenca, Samantha Grisham and Sara Perkins

The goal of this project is to design and model a reactor that could power a rocket to Mars that has an optimized weight, fuel, and engineering system.

2. TRIFURMA: TRISO FUELED REACTOR FOR MARTIAN APPLICATIONS

MIDN 1/C: Calvin Fry, Amelia Scigliano, Noah Byrne, Ken Tran (EEE), Josh Paskach (EGE) and Stuey Le (ECE)

NASA needs a reliable power source for future manned missions on Mars. Because of the harsh Martian environment, high costs and high demand for maintenance, solar and wind power are essentially infeasible. Thus, nuclear power provides the most realistic option due to its high energy density and reliability. Our team will be designing a nuclear reactor based on the KRUSTY experiment with

the variation of using TRISO pellets as fuel instead of Highly Enriched Uranium (U-8Mo) due to the requirements of certain NASA codes and standards.

3. MARRS: MARTIAN ASSEMBLED REGOLITH RADIATION SHIELD

MIDN 1/C: Katie Lupo (EME), Katie Halbert, Nathan Matalavage, Katelyn Majors and Kathleen McCusker

Design radiation shielding built using local materials for a Martian habitat, to minimize radiation exposure of potential habitants.

4. CUSTOMIZATION OF THERMOLUMINESCENT DOSIMETER HOUSINGS USING 3-D PRINTING

MIDN 1/C: Young-Uk Kim, Luke Lhota, Bill Buckman and Victor Wang

Design and manufacture unique TLD housings utilizing rapid prototyping techniques.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Capstone 2022, TRIFURMA: Triso Fueled Reactor for Martian Applications