Annual Report 2014-2015

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Annual Report 2014-2015 Department of Nuclear Engineering 1

TRANSFORMING ENGINEERING EDUCATION

TEXAS A&M ENGINEERING

engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

Table of Contents

WELCOME FROM THE DEPARTMENT HEAD Friends, colleagues and former students, it is my pleasure to present the 2014-2015 Annual Report. Our accomplishments this past year in research and education are only possible thanks to the tireless dedication of our faculty, staff, former students and our partners in industry and at national labs. We thank all of you for supporting us in our continued march toward excellence.

Each year we work to exceed expectations by providing more opportunities for our students, forging more partnerships with those in government, national labs and industry, and incorporating stronger and more varied approaches to our teaching, research and outreach.

We have maintained an outstanding degree of performance in our programs and research. Our graduate program was ranked the second best public graduate program in the nation according to the U.S News and World Report.

We also had the privilege of hosting the 2015 ANS Student Conference

here at Texas A&M University.

We have also continued towards the goals of the Dwight Look College of Engineering to increase enrollment to 25,000 engineers by the year 2025. Additionally, our research expenditures exceeded $17 million this year.

We are also excited to welcome Mark Kimber as an assistant professor and are pleased to announce the appointments of Lin Shao and Pavel Tsvetkov as the new faculty undergraduate adviser and faculty graduate adviser, respectively. Karen Vierow has also assumed the associate department head position.

I hope that you enjoy this summation of our department’s success this past year, and continue to stay with us as we move into our new location, the AI Engineering Building, this December. I thank you for your continued support, and I am pleased to work and learn with all of you as we continue to better our program. I look forward to welcoming you to our department in the near future.

Department Head Welcome

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Department Statistics

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Facilities, Centers and Research

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Texas A&M University Engineering Rises to Top Ten

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Student Spotlights

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Nuclear Engineering Advisory Council

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Ray Rothrock on the Future of Nuclear Energy

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25 By 25 Initative Update

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Scholarships and Fellowships

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Department News Briefs

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Selected Articles

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Faculty Profiles

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Support Us

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Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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Sincerely

Yassin A. Hassan Department Head and Sallie & Don Davis ‘61 Professor in Nuclear Engineering 2

DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

Photo Credit: Front Cover, by Troy W. Stepan

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

History The decision to enter the field of nuclear engineering was made in 1957, while Dr. John C. Calhoun was the dean of engineering. Our AGN-201 nuclear training reactor was purchased and installed in the mechanical engineering shops building, under the direction of Dr. Richard E. Wainerdi in 1957.

In 1958, university leadership agreed that a Department of Nuclear Engineering should be created and that graduate programs in nuclear engineering be authorized. At that time, only two degree programs were administered: a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering. The undergraduate program was established in 1966.

Mission The mission of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University is to serve our state, our nation and our global community by nurturing future nuclear engineering professionals and leaders who are:

• instilled with the highest standards of professional and ethical behavior;

to meet the complex challenges • prepared pr associated with sustainably and expanding peaceful uses of nuclear energy;

enhancing global nuclear security and • and i avoiding the dangers of nuclear proliferation.

Vision To develop and maintain a nationally and internationally recognized program that promotes a passion for understanding and applying the knowledge of nuclear science and engineering to support the nation’s alternative energy, national security and health care missions.

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engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

Faculty Profile Impact and Service:

Tenured & tenure-track:

Refereed Journal Articles: 65 Selective conference papers: 81 Fellows in professional societies: 9 Academy Member (NAE): 1 Members of prof. society committees: 27 Editorialships and editorial board memberships: 10

Full Professors: 5 Associate Professors: 8 Assistant Professors: 2 Senior Lecturers: 2 Professors of Practice: 2 Research Faculty: 8 Professor Emeritus Faculty: 3

Undergraduate: By the Numbers 268 Undergraduate Students 206 Bachelor of Science Nuclear Engineering 62 Bachelor of Science Radiological Health Engineering 3 First-Time Transfer Student Black Hispanic Asian/ Pacific Islander White NUEN RHEN Male Female 4

DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

Graduate and Degree Statistics

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Degrees Conferred by the Department (AY 2015) Bachelor of Science Nuclear Engineering: 46 Bachelor of Science Radiological Health Engineering: 9 Master of Engineering Nuclear Engineering: 4 Master of Science Nuclear Engineering: 17 Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering: 16 Master of Science Mechanical Engineering: 1 Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering: 1 Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering: 1

Graduate Student Support: Graduate student research assistants: 67 Graduate student teaching assistants: 16 DOE Fellows: 9 NRC Fellows: 2 Texas A&M Fellows: 10 Other external fellowships: 15

Graduate: By the Numbers 151 Graduate Students 3 Master of Engineering Nuclear Engineering 57 Master of Engineering Nuclear Engineering 18 First Time Graduate Students 81 Continuing Graduate Studies

Black Hispanic Asian/ Pacific Islander White Ph.D. NUEN M.S. NUEN M.E. NUEN Male Female 5

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Department Facilities and Centers Institute for National Security, Education & Research (INSER) Nuclear Security Science & Policy Institute (NSSPI) Nuclear Science Center (1 MW Triga Reactor) (NSC) Center for Large-scale Scientific Simulations (CLASS) Interphase Transport Phenomena Laboratory (ITP) Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) Nuclear Heat Transfer Systems Laboratory AGN-201M Nuclear Reactor Laboratory Micro-Beam Cell Irradiation Facility Fuel Cycle and Materials Laboratory (FCML) Radiation Detection Measurement Laboratory Accelerator Labratory Laser Diagnostic Multiphase Flow Labratory Tandem Accelerator Laboratory

Research Areas and Expenditures Security, Safeguards & Nonproliferation Nuclear Power Engineering Fuel Cycles & Materials Radiation Transport Health Physics, Radiation Biology and Medical Physics Thermal Hydraulics Computational Methods Development Interphase Transport Phenomena

$ 17.2 Million

in Research Expenditures

$ 6 million

in Research Awards (Fiscal Year 2015)

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Texas A&M Engineering rises to global top 10

Texas A&M Engineering was ranked as one of the top 10 engineering programs worldwide by the Academic Ranking of World Universities compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

“Global rankings such as this are important because they put an international spotlight on the excellence of our faculty and their research,” said John Sharp, chancellor of The Texas A&M University System. “We recognize the importance of engineering in our increasingly technological society and are committed to supporting our faculty as they address the global challenges of tomorrow.”

Just two years ago, the Dwight Look College of Engineering was ranked 22nd in this survey. The 12-place jump to 10th was exceptional. Texas A&M Engineering had the largest ranking increase of any U.S. engineering college in the top 20 since 2013.

“Nowhere has Texas A&M’s advancement – reputational and otherwise – been more apparent in recent years than in our College of Engineering, thanks in large part to the commitment of the Board of Regents and Chancellor Sharp and the leadership of Dr. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor and dean of engineering,” said Michael Young,

president of Texas A&M University. “Of particular note is the successful recruitment of a broad spectrum of students and faculty with diverse background. Together we are laying the foundation for even greater enhancements – through both faculty and facilities – that will well serve our students as well as help meet the technological and economic needs of our state and nation – and, yes, the world.”

“To rise from 22nd to 10th in just two years is extraordinary,” said Banks. “This would not have been possible without Chancellor John Sharp and the Texas A&M System Board of Regents’ significant investment in our engineering program and full support of our 25 by 25 initiative.”

Banks attributes the 12-place increase in rankings to the recruitment of top faculty from around the world and the impact of the research generated by the college of engineering’s 413 faculty members.

Recruitment of top scholars was made possible through the Chancellor’s Research Initiative, a $150 million fund to recruit world-renowned scholars to elevate the engineering research portfolio. In addition, through the 25 by 25 initiative, 51 new faculty members in targeted research areas were added along with the creation and expansion of several new state-of-the-art research facilities on the College Station campus.

Expansion of the engineering research infrastructure on campus has also transformed Texas A&M Engineering’s research program. New research facilities include the 70,000-square-foot Giesecke Engineering Research Building, which is an integrative research facility focusing on nanofabrication, materials characterization and energy research. Also, the soon-to-beconstructed Centennial Research Building will house research on robotics, advanced manufacturing, logistics and chemical safety.

The new Center for Infrastructure Renewal facility, funded in 2015 by the Texas Legislature, will focus on addressing the nation’s aging infrastructure challenges in transportation, electric power, and pipeline safety and security.

“Through investments in our high impact research programs, innovative engineering educational initiatives, stateof-the-art facilities, and comprehensive partnerships with industry, we are building the best engineering program possible,” said Banks.

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Student Spotlights Kristina Yancey ‘10 Kristina Yancey Spencer is a National Science Foundation Fellow working with Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov. She received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s of Science degrees in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University. Coming to Texas A&M as a National Merit Scholar, she served as the president of Global Justice, co-founded the Texas A&M chapter of the Women in Nuclear Society, and participated in the Research Fellows program. She interned at Fermilab and Lawrence Livermore National Labratory and did research with Dr. Lin Shao and Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov. After graduating in 2010, Yancey worked with the FAST Reactor Group at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland on a Fulbright Fellowship.

She returned to Texas A&M in 2011, receiving the Outstanding Graduate Student in Engineering Award and completing her master’s in the fall of 2013. In 2014, she received the Philanthropic Educational Organization’s Jane Hines Scholar Award. Her current work focuses on the optimization of dry cask storage, and she remains active in the Women in Nuclear Society, currently serving on the communications committee as the liaison with Nuclear Matters. Yancey is married to Jonathan Spencer and will be moving to Oak Ridge National Laboratory to complete her doctorate in 2016. She has published two peer-reviewed journal articles and has presented her work internationally.

David Saucier ‘16 David Saucier is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree and is working under Dr. John Ford. He received the NRC Fellowship for his first year out at Texas A&M University and started his research in radiation biology. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of New Mexico with a double major in chemistry and nuclear engineering. During his time there he served as the ANS student president for two years and worked at Sandia National Laboratories for three years in the Applied Nuclear Technology organization. Currently his work surrounds the intersection of radiation and biological mechanisms. Saucier was recently the recipient of a Dwight Look College of Engineering Travel Grant to travel to Kyoto, Japan in May 2015 for the International Congress on Radiation Research. Saucier looks forward to furthering his education at Texas A&M and working with faculty and staff here in the department and within the college of engineering.

Anna Swisher ‘16 Anna Swisher is a senior undergraduate student majoring in radiological health engineering with minors in nuclear engineering and mathematics. In addition to her academic work, she has been very involved in student organizations such as Freshmen Leadership Development Retreat, Pre-Medical Society, Aggie Experience Council, and Phi Eta Sigma. She has worked in Dr. Gamal Akabani’s lab for three years studying the effects of alpha particles on prostate cancer stem cells as part of the Aggie Research Scholars and Undergraduate Research Scholars programs. Swisher also serves as an Engineering Ambassador for Texas A&M and is an active member of the Nuclear Engineering Student Advisory Council. Swisher serves as a campus tour guide, volunteers at a local elementary school and working at the College Station Medical Center. Upon graduation in May, Swisher plans to attend medical school and pursue her dream of becoming a physician. She has special interest in oncology and nuclear medicine, and an even greater interest in the integration of engineering and medicine.

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ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Engineering Advisory Council

The mission of the Nuclear Engineering Advisory Council is to provide advice, support and counsel to the department head with the express purpose of helping to maintain the highest level of academic excellence so that its graduates remain at the forefront of the nuclear engineering professional practice in Texas and the nation.

The Nuclear Engineering Advisory Council shall accomplish this mission by working with the department head to strengthen the depth and breadth of the department’s existing degree program specialty areas, helping to foster constructive interactions with leading nuclear engineering practitioners, participating in the ABET accreditation process, and serving as a resource to the department’s faculty and students. The Nuclear Engineering Advisory Council provides advice to the department head as representatives of all department graduates as well as firms employing its graduates both in Texas and the nation.

Ms. Carol Berrigan

Dr. James Perry

Nuclear Energy Institute

Sandia National Labratory

Jeffery Bradfute Westinghouse Mr. Rafael Flores (Chair)

Dr. Regis Matzie (Co-Chair) (Ret.)

B&W mPower Inc.

Mr. G.R. “Ross” Frazer

Brazos Land & Subsea L.L.C.

Westinghouse

Mr. Timothy Hurst Hurst Technologies Corp.

Areva Inc. Dr. Russell Stachowski

Los Almos National Laboratory

Global Nuclear Fuel Mr. Ron Stinson, Emeritus Atlas Consulting Group

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

University of Tennessee

Dr. Finis Southworth (Ret.)

Ms. Evelyn Mullen

Dr. Jess Gehin

Dr. J. Wesley Hines

South Texas Project Nuclear Engineering Ms. Sandra Sloan

Westinghouse

Luminant Power

Mr. Tom Geer

Mr. Tim Powell

Mr. Rube Williams

Mr. Martin Parece

Jet Learning Laboratory

Areva

Mr. Richard Wolters (Ret.) General Electric 9

TEXAS A&M ENGINEERING

engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

Featured Alumni: Ray Rothrock on the future of nuclear energy

It is a new day in America for nuclear energy, according to venture capitalist and Texas A&M University former student Ray Rothrock. Rothrock and his fellow nuclear power advocates have helped develop a new industry focused on the creation of advanced nuclear reactors to produce environmentally cleaner, cheaper and accessible energy solutions.

A nuclear engineer turned venture capitalist, Rothrock earned his bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M in 1977 and went on to become a partner of the venture capital firm Venrock, a firm dedicated to creating and financing technology solutions. Rothrock’s journey as a proponent of nuclear energy began with his co-production of the film Pandora’s Promise in 2013, which made the case for nuclear power as a clean and safe energy source. Rothrock and his associates have worked with legislators and government officials from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) over many trips to the White House to create an environment that will foster the development of advanced reactors by nuclear startups. It has been an uphill battle for Rothrock and his associates, as they have faced not only red tape regulations by the NRC, but a perceived public fear over the safety of nuclear power sources.

“The mindset has never been against nuclear, but the headlines have been,” Rothrock said.

“Recently, the use of nuclear energy was rated 65 percent favorable by the public in a study done by the PEW Research Center.

This tells us that this attitude toward nuclear power is a perception issue more than it is a reality issue.”

In June, Bloomberg New Energy Finance released a report stating that by 2040, 56 percent of the world’s energy will be generated by clean sources such as wind and solar power, but that such a change will come too late to prevent the effects of climate change. This need for clean and sustainable energy in the here and now is what drives Rothrock and his associates to start the conversation about nuclear energy as a viable clean energy solution.

“Now with the context of the climate issues we are facing, nuclear energy is the only large base level electric energy source out there that can go the distance,” Rothrock said. “What’s happened as a result are these nuclear energy startups, and that’s the delightful surprise. This was not a strategy by an industry or anyone else, they just happened because young nuclear entrepreneurs want to help make a difference.”

Existing nuclear reactors are water-cooled systems and have stayed that way based on a precedent set by the United States Navy in the 1960’s to use pressurized water. Rothrock argues that there are already better ways in place to rebuild these base-level power

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

plants to run more efficiently and effectively.

These growing nuclear startup operations are taking these old ideas and making them into viable energy solutions. One such startup, Transatomic Power, is building a reactor that produces energy from already spent nuclear fuel, thereby eliminating nuclear fuel waste.

“Regardless of what model we’re using, at the end of the day, none of this should be built if it is not economical,” Rothrock said.

“It has to compete with natural gas and coal.

Water pressure reactors are big and relatively expensive to produce in competition with fossil fuels; these new nuclear reactors don’t have these issues and while we need all the solar and wind power we can get, it isn’t as constant and reliable as nuclear is.”

As Rothrock and his associates continue to work against these constraints and make the process for the development of these clean nuclear energy solutions more innovation friendly, he cites changes in the way the nuclear industry operates as a source of encouragement.

“The big thing that I have observed being a venture capitalist for 30 years is that you have to keep changing and learning and growing,” Rothrock said “In regards to entrepreneurs, the people in government and those in the DOE, there is a new team on the field. If we can get the government to craft policy and be more open and accepting of innovation, we will solve the greatest climate problems we have.”

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Rendering of the new Engineering Education Complex The Zachry Engineering Center, which opened in 1972, closed at the end of December 2014 for a massive, multi-million dollar renovation and new construction project that began in February 2015.

When completed, the Engineering Education Complex (EEC) will be the largest academic building on the Texas A&M University campus and serve as the heart of undergraduate education to support the Dwight Look College of Engineering’s 25 by 25 Initiative.

Zachry Engineering Center

The 25 by 25 Initiative is a transformational controlled growth initiative to increase access for qualified students to pursue engineering education at Texas A&M University to an enrollment of 25,000 students by 2025.

This initiative addresses the critical and growing demand in Texas and the United States for more engineers. The Texas Workforce Commission is projecting a 19 percent growth in engineering jobs in the next 12 years. This equates to more than 43,000 jobs. This projection mirrors a recent call by the President’s Council of Advisors on STEM for the nation to increase the number of STEM graduates to one million in the next 10 years.

Texas A&M is stepping forward to address this critical state and national need through an innovative sustainable and systemic change of our educational enterprise.

The controlled enrollment growth initiative is led by three guiding principles: • Transforming the educational experience to better prepare our students to engage in and meet the future needs of the engineering marketplace; • Increase accessibility to engineering education at all levels; • and delivering engineering education in a cost effective manner.

Dr. M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor and dean of engineering

“As a Top 10 public institution, quality is and has always been a priority of the Dwight Look College of Engineering,” said M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor and dean of Texas A&M Engineering. “In fact quality is one of the main criteria of this initiative. We remain committed to providing a high-quality education and to producing well-prepared engineers who are ready to address the challenges of today and tomorrow. If at any time we feel we have reached our maximum capacity and the quality of our education could be affected, we will postpone the growth until our operations could accommodate all students.”

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engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

SCHOLARSHIPS & FELLOWSHIPS

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS FALL 2014-SPRING 2015

Adams Family Scholarship

Marna G. Kissmann ’90 Scholarship

Can Pu

Aaron Mowry

Bill R. Teer ’55 Scholarship

Mitty C. Plummer ’65 Scholarship

Carol ‘77 & G. Ross Frazer ‘77 Scholarship

Neff-Poston Health Physics Scholarship

Evan Gonzalez John Owens

Sarah Camba

Kyrone Riley

Alexander Rubin

Mallory Carson

David G. Barker ’66 Scholarship

R.D. Neff Memorial Scholarship

Matthew Wanner

Hanna Bunting

Eloise Vezey Dromgoole Scholarship Cameron Crawford

Rottler & LaCroix Scholarship

Harold J. Giroir, Jr. Scholarship Jorge Araujo Chu Tao

Jamal Mohmand

Matthew Kennington Samuel Olivier Matthew Sopa Nicholas Whitman Hong Jun Zhu

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

Kevin Miller

Kyle Russell

Jeff W. Simmons ’85 Scholarship

Susanna Swisher

Tom ‘81 & Melody ‘80 Geer Scholarship Lee Dunn

Debra Roussel

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

GRADUATE STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS FALL 2014-SPRING 2015

DOE Nuclear Energy University Program Simon Bolding Lane Carasik Joshua Hansel Lloyd Price, Jr. William Sames Jonathan Scherr Charles Stratton

DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship Andrew Till

DOE Stewardship Sciences Fellowship Richard Vega

National Science Foundation Fellowship Kristina Yancey

National Space Biomedical Research Institute Fellowship Sarah Over

Nuclear Nonproliferation International Safeguards Fellowship Claudio Gariazzo Robert Zedric

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fellowship

INPO Fellowship

Grant Emery

Matthew Garza

Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Fellowship Marlene Bencomo

Mary Johansen

David Saucier

OGAPS Diversity Fellowship

Yuriy Ayzman Elizabeth Castanon Lainy Dromgoole Arnulfo Gonzalez Yesenia Salazar Karyn Stern

OGAPS Merit Fellowship

MUSC Rickover Fellowship

Landon Brockmeyer

National Excellence Fellowship

Sandia National Laboratory (TEES) Fellowship

Michael Hackemack

Cheuk Lau

Ryan Kelly

Marie Arrieta

TEXAS A&M ENGINEERING

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A Year in Review

DEPARTMENT & INSTITUTE NEWS Nuclear faculty help lead NNSA center The Center for Exascale Radiation Transport (CERT) at Texas A&M University is one of six centers of excellence funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under the Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program (PSAAP-II). CERT, led by Texas A&M with participation from the University of Colorado, will be funded at $10 million over a period of five years.

INMM student chapter and NSSPI lead nuclear security exercise at ANS Student Conference The officers of the Texas A&M University student chapter of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) and faculty from the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s (TEES) Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) led participants in a table-top exercise focusing on the practical applications of nuclear security at facilities during the 2015 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Student Conference held at Texas A&M. Shao receives multiple research grants from DOE for nuclear energy research Dr. Lin Shao, associate professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been awarded $1.2 million in funding by the U.S. Department of Energy as a part of an initiative to promote projects with potential in the fields of nuclear energy research and infrastructure enhancement. The three projects, which Shao will either lead himself or serve as a collaborator, are through an integrated program combining the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP), the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) and Integrated Research Project (IRP).

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

NSSPI hosts academic exchange with students and faculty from Tokyo Tech The Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) hosted a delegation of students and faculty from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech). The visit was the second academic exchange held at Texas A&M University between students from Texas A&M and the DOJO Nuclear Security Education Program at Tokyo Tech who are studying nuclear nonproliferation and security issues. Texas A&M students have previously attended two international symposia on nuclear safety, security and safeguards conducted by Tokyo Tech in Japan. The visits consisted of a series of student presentations on relevant research projects being conducted at both institutions.

Dromgoole awarded HPS fellowship Lainy Dromgoole was awarded the 2014-2015 Robert Gardner Memorial Fellowship from the Health Physics Society. The fellowship included a $5,000 stipend and a travel grant to attend the HPS Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.

Dromgoole works with Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) faculty member Dr. Craig Marianno on research in the area of health physics.

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Department welcomes Dr. Mark Kimber for nuclear power position Dr. Mark Kimber, a former assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, has joined the nuclear engineering department. Kimber’s research developments and background in mechanical engineering will contribute to the area of thermal hydraulics and nuclear power within the department’s research groups.

International nuclear official praises Texas A&M’s contributions Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, visited Texas A&M University in October 2014 and designated the National Center for Electron Beam Research as the IAEA Collaborating Centre for Electron Beam Technologies for Food, Health and Environmental Applications. The center, located in Texas A&M’s Research Park, is operated

by Texas A&M AgriLife Research. Its research includes increasing the shelf life and eliminating diseases in fruits and vegetables. The designation is the first given to a U.S. university and will allow researchers to more easily build international relationships with other nuclear scientists.

INTERNATIONAL IMPACTS Faculty lead nuclear security workshop for Indian universities Department of Nuclear Engineering and Nuclear Security Science & Policy Institute faculty members Dr. Sunil Chirayath, Dr. Craig Marianno and former faculty member Dr. William Charlton conducted a two-and-a-half day workshop on nuclear security at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur (IIT-K), which was jointly sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Partnership for Nuclear Security (PNS) and IIT-K. Participants in this workshop were faculty and students from various universities throughout India that have nuclear science, engineering or technology programs.

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engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

A Year in Review NPI hosts Chinese students on study tour The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s (TEES) Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) hosted a group of 15 undergraduate students and two faculty members from Harbin Engineering University (HEU) in China on a three-week study tour at Texas A&M University. The students were all nuclear engineering students in their final year of undergraduate studies.

STUDENT NEWS Prairie View A&M students visit Texas A&M as part of DHS Nuclear Forensics Program Twenty nuclear forensics students and faculty from Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) visited the Texas A&M University campus in April 2015 as part of the Nuclear Forensics for Minority Serving Institutions program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO).

Students attend the WiN national conference in Boston The Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University co-sponsored two students to attend the WiN national conference held in Boston from July 27 to July 30. Morgan Munera, (pictured right) a junior undergraduate student studying radiological health engineering, was the then president of the Women in Nuclear chapter at Texas A&M. Kristina Yancey, (pictured left) a Ph.D. fellow, received her first student sponsorship in 2009 to attend the WIN Global conference in Washington, D.C. She was one of the original founders of WiN at Texas A&M. 16

DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Nuclear student Harbour presents at IDWG meeting in Paris Logan Harbour, a senior in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University, gave a presentation on the student exchange program between Texas A&M’s nuclear engineering department and the College of Nuclear Science and Technology at Harbin Engineering University, China, during the Infrastructure Development Working Group (IDWG) meeting held in Paris.

“We hope to promote international collaboration and introduce younger students to the nuclear industry with unique opportunities,” Harbour and Zhiqiang said during their presentation. “The nuclear energy field is global and international, therefore challenges need to be dealt with on such a level and we hope this program will prepare young students for those challenges later in their career.

Harbour, along with Zhu Zhiqiang, a student from Harbin who came to Texas A&M in as part of the exchange program, delivered the report at the request of Dr. Alex Burkart of the U.S. Department of State, who served as the meeting’s co-chair. It is believed that this marked the first time students have been invited to deliver a presentation.

“These programs have given our students another understanding and respect for other cultures and countries. It has also built strong relationships among students that will potentially become important contacts in our nuclear careers as young leaders.”

The exchange program between the two universities has been held for the past three summers.

Burkart feels that the program between Texas A&M and Harbin brings together the upcoming generation of nuclear leaders in the two leading countries and builds networks that will endure over their professional careers and represents a global best practice in human resource development for the future of the nuclear industry.

The IDWG meeting was held in conjunction with the International Framework for Nuclear Engineering Cooperation (IFNEC), a group of more than 30 countries around the world focusing on nuclear energy. One of the components of IFNEC is the IDWG, which deals with a number of crosscutting infrastructure issues in support of nuclear energy.

The program at A&M has been organized and carried out by Dr. Lin Shao and Dr. Cable Kurwitz.

Shao and Kurwitz accompanied the students on their trip.

Participants go through an intensive course on nuclear technology during the first week with the students from Texas A&M and Harbin joining together on teams of two individuals.

The Texas A&M students also tour three different nuclear power plants in China before spending the last week in Beijing where they take part in cultural events and receive a briefing from the Department of Energy office in the U.S. Embassy on the joint government collaboration in the nuclear area.

The College of Nuclear Science and Technology at Harbin Engineering University is the largest academic nuclear program in China, while Texas A&M is the largest nuclear engineering program in the United States.

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engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

Texas A&M ANS student chapter hosts 2015 ANS student conference

With two years of intense planning and dedication, the 2015 ANS student conference was successfully executed April 9-11, 2015. The conference theme was “Powering Tomorrow Together,” and aimed to highlight the growing globalization of the nuclear and health physics industries. The conference provided attendees the opportunity to become familiar with the international nuclear community through internationally recognized keynote speakers, workshops, technical sessions, special paper tracks and interaction with international students and attendees. The final count for registered attendees was 530; 25 guests were international students.

Overall, 43 schools were represented.

In order to integrate the theme into the events and sessions, a special session for summaries of international relevance was added. This resulted in a diverse set of projects and presentations over international collaboration and was definitely a unique technical session due to the subject matter. Two of the panels specifically focused on the theme, each from a different angle. “International Business Experiences,” looked outward to highlight the ways students can be part of the global community, while

the “Diversity Panel,” was introspective and sought to educate and start a dialogue on the complex make-up of the nuclear engineers of today and tomorrow. There was also international representation on the regulatory affairs panel, which added a unique perspective on governance of the nuclear industry.

There were opportunities for students to network with professionals at the dinners and peers at the socials. This year incorporated company tables at dinner, allowing students to seek out professionals they had heard speak on panels or met at the career fair earlier in the day. There was also a large attendance at the socials each night, which kept the conference attendees together as they explored College Station.

“For the student conference, we sought to provide an environment for networking,” said Timothy Crook, co-chair of the planning committee. “The Memorial Student Center on the Texas A&M University campus is a great space for a conference and we were fortunate to host all conference activities in the same building, with the exception of a few of the workshops. Hosting the conference in a single location allowed attendees to stay close and connect with other attendees between conference events.”

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

Particularly outstanding workshops included the “Young Members Group Involvement in ANS National & Hosting a Student Conference,” and the “Global Fuel Cycle workshops.” The former was a new workshop for student sections interested in hosting a student conference. Attendees found the panelists full of great information and this panel will be continued for future student conferences. The “Global Fuel Cycle Workshop” was one of the largest workshops this year. This unique learning opportunity allowed students to practice diplomacy and trade. Participants were able to experience the development of nuclear technology in nations without, as well as the maintenance of infrastructure for existing nuclear states. One nation actually staged a covert operation to steal nuclear materials for its own nuclear plant. Workshop facilitators enjoyed seeing the participants think as both technical experts and political strategists in order to accomplish their country’s goals.

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Kuzmin conducts research to minimize negative effects of cancer treatments Texas A&M University predoctoral research fellow Gleb Kuzmin and scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are conducting research to understand the negative effects proton therapy cancer treatments can have on normal human tissue. They are seeking to find not only the best way to accurately estimate unintended radiation dose to normal tissue in the short term, but also to provide efficient and targeted treatment while minimizing unintended negative effects.

Kuzmin has been given the opportunity to work at NIH through the institute’s Graduate Partnership Program individual track distinction (for students of universities that do not have a direct partnership with NIH). Kuzmin works with Dr. Choonsik Lee, a principal investigator for the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics under the NIH’s National Cancer Institute. The pair is currently assessing the effects the radiation dose can have on normal tissues from proton therapy treatment on cancer patients, a treatment that uses an external beam of protons to target a specific tumor area.

While clinicians and researchers understand the effectiveness of proton therapy on a targeted cancer area, lasting secondary effects to the surrounding tissue are not well documented. Lee and Kuzmin seek to develop a dose calculation system for normal tissues outside the treatment area, allowing healthcare professionals to apply precise radiation treatment doses to the targeted areas without inadvertently affecting the surrounding tissue or other body systems. Any dosage beyond the precise necessary amount or outside the intended location needed for treatment has the potential to have negative effects.

The human body works in much the same way as a naturally contained ecosystem.

In the same way that any impact to an ecosystem can have unintended changes to the way it functions, an unintended amount of radiation to a specific body area can have

effects on the surrounding tissues and body systems, creating unforeseen consequences such as secondary cancers and other serious health outcomes. The current system that is used to calculate radiation dosages is a series of fast-based algorithms that only focus on the possible effects on the tumor and its immediate surrounding areas, rather than the body as a whole.

“Part of what I am doing will be geared for usage by epidemiologists,” Kuzmin said. “They will be able to use the system I develop to calculate and quantify the doses patients receive and do studies to see if there were any later affects or correlations between doses on outside organs. Once those studies have been done, we may begin to see more clinical applications. What we are doing right now is not something that has an immediate effect on patients, we are rather interested in any secondary effects the treatment may have and whether there will be any effects later in life.”

Kuzmin and Lee are working to develop this dose calculation system for tissues outside the intended treatment area through three-dimensional computer models of the human anatomy. These models will allow the researchers to focus on the portions of the body not covered by CT scans by using both computational phantom techniques in conjunction with controlled experiments using a physical human-sized phantom. The physical phantom is made of material that is equivalent to human tissue, allowing any radiation applied to the dummy to affect it in the same way it would a human body.

The human phantom will also be equipped with radiation detectors inside it’s body to measure the dosage of the treatments it receives, allowing Kuzmin to take radiation measurements from the specific tissues or organs outside the direct tissue that is being treated.

procedure and become irradiated with a proton beam,” Kuzmin said. “We will first run our simulations and calculate how much dose the phantom’s organs receive.

Then we will validate our simulations and calculations by comparing our results to the output from the detectors inside the phantom.”

Kuzmin’s background is in radiation physics, and he is a student in the Texas A&M nuclear engineering department health physics Ph.D. program under his adviser Dr. Gamal Akabani. Once he finishes his research, he is considering pursuing a medical physics residency to become a board certified medical physicist. However, he also enjoys research and may seek a postdoctoral position.

“I was always drawn to the field of physics, but I still wanted to do something medically related that is beneficial for society,” Kuzmin said. “I’ve been at NCI for a couple of months doing modeling work, and I will also do experimental work, I’m getting both sides of the research. It’s a very collaborative research environment.”

“Both the computational and physical phantoms will experience the same procedures as a patient would — get a CT, go through the treatment planning TEXAS A&M ENGINEERING

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engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

Texas A&M Women In Nuclear chapter sends record number of delegates to national conference

Six members of the Women in Nuclear chapter at Texas A&M University were selected to attend the annual Women In Nuclear (WIN) National Conference on a travel scholarship. It is the highest number of scholarship winners for the conference in the chapter’s history.

“The basis of the conference was a focus on fundamentals,” said chapter President Jessica Taylor. “I had a great time just seeing all the professionals there. It was nice to see everyone get together and see people who don’t know each other talk about things that are going on in our field.”

The conference provided networking opportunities for the attendees and a look at professional development opportunities in the field of nuclear engineering.

“Because we were a part of this sponsorship they gave you a mentor and you got to talk to them and meet with them and see what others around the country are doing,” Taylor said. “There are some conferences I’ve gone to where it is just like being at a career

fair and it’s intimidating, but at the WIN conference all these women and men act friendly towards you.”

Other delegates felt the ability to attend the conference on scholarship provided opportunities for them to not only network with industry leaders, but to gain some relative job related training. Graduate nuclear engineering student Kristina Spencer attended the conference for a third time and was in charge of one of the discussion sessions.

“This year we focused on building trust with the public at large through social media and we talked a lot about how you look at the message you are sending to your audience,” Spencer said. “It was a lot of work but I thought it went really well and it was good management training.”

The WIN chapter at Texas A&M is an organization dedicated to the service of others and to informing the public about nuclear energy. The organization is not exclusive to women, something the

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members feel is important in promoting good gender relations within the industry.

“Men and women have to learn how to work together and it’s a good overall experience for men to realize how many women are in the industry,” said senior nuclear engineering student Holly Parenica.

“I think out of all the schools we had the largest student population. We’re really devoted and active in WIN and we’re really working to push it further and help it grow more.”

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Nuclear engineering students attend international symposium in Tokyo

Daniel Hellfeld, Jonathan Scherr and Matthew Garza, students from the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University, traveled to Tokyo for the 4th International Symposium and Seminar on Global Nuclear Human Resource Development for Safety, Security, and Safeguards. The symposium and seminar, “Nuclear Safety in the Post-Fukushima Era,” was organized by the Academy for Global Nuclear Safety and Security Agent at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Embassy of France in Japan, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), the Japan chapter of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM), and the International Nuclear Research Collaboration Center at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Students and young professionals from various countries and disciplines gathered at the symposium and seminar to hear presentations from organizations such as the Embassy of France in Japan, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the Japanese Nuclear Regulation

Authority (NRA), the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), the Toshiba Corporation Power Systems Company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST. The presentations were focused on topics such as the Fukushima nuclear accident and the current state of the Fukushima Daiichi facility, effective risk management and communication, the importance of education and leadership in safety and resilience management, creating safety culture in the nuclear regime and safety improvements for future nuclear reactors.

As part of the symposium and seminar, Dr. William Charlton, professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute, gave a presentation titled “Synergies and Conflicts on Nuclear Safety and Security Risk Analysis in Reactor Design Courses.” Charlton discussed the benefits and challenges associated with the recent integration of nuclear safety and security design into the graduate-level nuclear reactor design course at Texas A&M.

In addition to listening to presentations and interacting with the speakers, the invited students and young professionals traveled to Fukushima Prefecture for two days to tour the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants. At the Fukushima Daiichi facility, the attendees were able to tour the Anti-Seismic Building, which serves as the headquarters for the decommissioning work currently being done at the facility. The attendees were also taken on a bus tour throughout the facility to observe reactor buildings one through six, the water treatment facility and the contaminated water storage tanks. At the Fukushima Daini facility located 20 kilometers south of the Daiichi plant, the attendees were able to tour the diesel generator room as well as enter containment in reactor building two. While in Fukushima, the participants also performed field work with several radiation detectors in order to measure the radiation dose levels and to compare the measurements to the measured levels in Tokyo.

Finally, the invited students and young professionals were divided into multinational groups and each given a separate topic relating to nuclear safety. Over the course of two days, each group researched its topic and presented its findings in the form of a 20-minute presentation.

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Outside students seek opportunity to conduct nuclear engineering research at Texas A&M

Students both across the nation and abroad were given the opportunity to participate in ongoing research with the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University through the Dwight Look College of Engineering’s Undergraduate Summer Research Grant program.

The program selects students from a pool of candidates who have completed their sophomore year, are academically qualified and have a desire to pursue research initiatives. Those selected receive a stipend and are awarded credit hours for their research contributions.

International student Mariana Guerra from Brazil is a senior energy engineering major and saw an opportunity to do research at Texas A&M while in Denton, Texas, via an exchange program with her university to study the English language.

“I chose to come here to Texas A&M and it was my first choice,” Guerra said. “We talk a lot about Texas A&M in Brazil because of the nuclear department and because of how it relates to my field of study, so I know all the resources and research that Texas A&M provides, and so that was why it was my wish to come here.”

Guerra’s research was focused on information technology and efforts to produce emerging energy solutions.

“Energy and water are very connected,” Guerra said. “The most important part of my research was how we can use information systems to produce potable water and how we can use this to help create energy. I know about energy and I know that nuclear is a good source of energy. We have a lot of renewable sources, but I see that I can help replace our energies with renewable energies to create something more sustainable.”

Guerra was paired with Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov as her faculty advisor during her 10-week research opportunity. Tsvetkov also worked with Grant Varnau, an undergraduate physics major at San Diego State University, who participated in research on possible advances in radiation therapy.

The opportunity was beneficial for Varnau, who has an interest in pursuing graduate studies in nuclear engineering but lacked a nuclear engineering program at San Diego State University.

“I had wanted to apply to this school

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

as a undergraduate, and to be here was really neat,” Varnau said. “It’s been a fun experience for me to be here and see what the school is like and to be able to focus my research where I wanted to.”

Varnau’s research focused on radiation therapies, specifically on the distribution of particles known as alphameters within biological material such as bone, skin and other tissue. Using a specialized computer program known as “Stopping In Range of Ions and Matter,” Varnau looked at their distribution through the tissue to get a measure of radiation damage per the amount of radiation emitted in theoretical treatments.

The research still requires experimental verification, but Varnau believes it could be a good tool to help estimate radiation damage during chemotherapy treatments, and hopes to further his research and pursue graduate studies in nuclear engineering.

“We can use this program to get conservative estimates on radiation damage and biological materials, so if you give this program to anyone in the field, they can use it to better understand the radiation damage,” Varnau said.

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Nuclear engineering graduate student researches use of bacteria in cancer treatment New research done by Texas A&M University nuclear engineering Ph.D. student Ryan Clanton has found a way to turn one of the most common progenitors of disease, microbes, into an ally in the fight against cancer. Clanton’s research focuses on using certain microbes as radio-protectants of normal tissues and to help amplify the effects of radiation on malignant tissues during cancer treatment.

The microbes would potentially be used to target tumors and combat the cancerous cells within the body without damaging normal tissues or having other detrimental effects.

“The more papers I read on the subject, the more I got the feeling we were looking at the topic completely wrong. We were ignoring factors that vary from person to person, factors that could change how we respond to any type of stress.”

“Some of the survival curves in radiation therapy have variances of 50 percent,” he said. “Without taking into consideration the microbial populations of that tumor, you are basically limiting the patients’ chances of survival or giving them more side effects because you don’t know if you are underdosing or overdosing them. If we don’t look at microbes now, we are completely ignoring the fact that there is such large variance in the calculations we use.”

The idea came to Clanton when he was doing background research on chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Clanton saw a way to use the bacteria to hone in on cancerous regions by looking at the way bacteria travel from the gut to the blood stream after exposure to radiation and other biological factors.

“The initial scheme of the paper was to look at what causes radio-resistance and why there could potentially be beneficial effects from the exposure of these microbes,” Clanton said. “We wanted to see how this influences radiation risk, specifically looking at why current survival curves used for radiation therapy have such wide variances that prevent the effective treatment of patients.”

Whether the outcome will be positive or hazardous for patients will be dependent on what bacteria are present in the tumor or lesion, what influences they have on the lesion or tumor and how the immune system responds to those bacteria that are present. However, Clanton says ignoring the role of microbes in chemo or radiation therapies out of fear of these risks would be a mistake.

According to Clanton, the bacteria infiltrate the tumor through the bloodstream after leaving the gut, allowing the immune system to lock onto the bacteria as a marker. The specific immunological responses to those bacteria could be the difference between more effective treatments or a more malignant tumor.

According to Clanton, the bacteria are able to enter into the blood stream due to enhanced intestinal permeability, which is routinely amplified after exposure to radiation or chemo. They then circulate in the blood until they find an immunesuppressed environment, which is characteristic of tumors, while bacteria elsewhere in the body are eliminated by the immune system. Once there, the microbes can undergo lipid peroxidation, which produces an organic compound known as aldehydes that can cause DNA damage to the tumor. As radio-protectants, the bacteria could also help reduce inflammation and other negative radiation side effects because of the substances they produce in their biofilms.

“Once I saw how it gets to the tumor, I saw the idea kind of bloom,” Clanton said.

According to Clanton, beneficial outcomes from the microbes are not guaranteed.

Clanton sees the targeting effects of bacteria to the tumor to be where his research has the greatest potential. Through genetic engineering, tumor-infiltrating microbes can be modified to produce natural chemotherapeutics within the tumor, making it a highly targeted treatment. The microbes would also spread with, and treat any metastasizing tumors and once the tumor had been eradicated, the microbes would be naturally eliminated from the body within a period of 24 to 48 hours. Clanton sees microbes as the future of nanotechnology, especially in their applicability to medicine.

I believe that bacteria, viruses, and fungi are the preliminary nanobots that we have been looking for,” Clanton said. “I have not seen any nanomachine capable of storing the information required to target and perform a plethora of tasks like RNA and DNA are capable of doing. To me, using microbes and genetically engineering them to do a specific task is key to opening the door to a biotechnology revolution.”

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engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

FACULTY Marvin Adams HTRI Professor of Nuclear Engineering Director, Institute of National Security Education and Research Ph.D., University of Michigan

mladams@tamu.edu Computational transport theory, efficient algorithms for massively parallel scientific and engineering calculations, quantification of uncertainties in predictive science & engineering.

Gamal Akabani Associate Professor

akabani@tamu.edu Ph.D., Texas A&M University Medical sciences, biomedical engineering, nuclear medicine imaging, nuclear oncology, radiation Monte Carlo transport, radiation oncology, radiotherapy physics, radiobiology, PK/PD and PBPK modeling, basic immunology, and radiopharmaceutical research.

David Boyle Deputy Director, Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology dboyle@tamu.edu Safety and efficiency of plutonium storage, disposition approaches.

Sunil Chirayath Research Assistant Professor Associate Director, Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute Ph.D., University of Madras, India sunilsc@tamu.edu Monte Carlo transport methods in reactor physics and radiation shielding, Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) core physics simulations, safeguards approaches and analysis for FBR fuel cycles.

John Ford Associate Professor ABET Coordinator Ph.D., University of Tennessee

thasl@tamu.edu

Response of intact tissues to ionizing radiation, microbeam utilization in determining how the response of individual cells in a tissue are modified by neighboring unirradiated cells.

Yassin Hassan Sallie and Don Davis ‘61 Professor Department Head Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

y-hassan@tamu.edu

Computational and experimental thermal hydraulics, reactor safety, fluid mechanics, two-phase flow, turbulence and laser velocimetry, imaging techniques.

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Ernie Kee Associate Professor of Practice B.S., The University of Idaho in Moscow

erniekee@tamu.edu

Applied probabilistic risk assessment and reliability engineering in commercial power reactor settings.

Mark Kimber Assistant Professor Ph.D., Purdue University

mark.kimber@tamu.edu

Experimental and computational thermal hydraulics, uncertainty quantification in isothermal and non-isothermal turbulent flows and two phase heat transport.

Cable Kurwitz Senior Lecturer Ph.D., Texas A&M University

kurwitz@tamu.edu

Reduced gravity thermal management, modeling of high dimensional data, data classification, and model validation, nuclear power systems.

Craig Marianno Research Assistant Professor Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute Ph.D., Oregon State University

marianno@tamu.edu

Nuclear counter terrorism, nuclear instrumentation development, exercise development, radiological consequence management, environmental health physics.

Ryan McClarren Assistant Professor Ph.D., University of Michigan

rgm@tamu.edu

Uncertainty quantification, numerical methods for radiation transport, multiphysics simulation, high-performance computing.

Sean McDeavitt Associate Professor Director, Nuclear Science Center Ph.D., Purdue University mcdeavitt@tamu.edu Nuclear materials science, nuclear fuel behavior and processing, materials processing in the nuclear fuel cycle, high temperature materials science.

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engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

FACULTY Warren “Pete� Miller TEES Distinguished Research Professor Ph.D., Northwestern University

wmiller@tamu.edu

Analysis of policy options for the storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel, nuclear fuel recycle, breeding plutonium, elimination of transuranics.

Jim Morel Professor Director, Center for Large-Scale Scientific Simulations Ph.D., University of New Mexico

morel@tamu.edu

Monte Carlo methods and hybrid deterministic/ Monte Carlo methods, discretization and solution techniques for multiphysics/multiscale calculations.

Kenneth Peddicord Professor Director, Nuclear Power Institute Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

k-peddicord@tamu.edu

Nuclear fuels, reactor systems and design, fissile materials disposition, MOX fuels, generation IV nuclear power systems, nuclear generated hydrogen, hydrogen economy, nuclear workforce.

John Poston Professor Associate Director, Nuclear Power Institute Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology

j-poston@tamu.edu

External and internal dosimetry.

Jean Ragusa Associate Professor Associate Director, Institute for Scientific Computation Ph.D., Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble

jean.ragusa@tamu.edu

Numerical methods for multiphysics simulations, computational techniques for neutral particle and electron transport, nuclear fuel assembly and reactor design.

Natela Ostrovskaya Senior Lecturer Ph.D., Texas A&M University

natela@tamu.edu

Mathematical and computer modeling of radiation response of human tissues, predicting changes occurring in tissues following radiation insult.

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Richard Schultz Professor of Practice Ph.D., Idaho State University

rschultz@tamu.edu

Design, scaling, specification, and conduct of thermal-hydraulic experiments, verification and validation of advanced thermal-hydraulic engineering numerical models.

Lin Shao Associate Professor Undergraduate Program Adviser Ph.D., University of Houston

lshao@tamu.edu

Materials science and nanotechnology, radiation effects in nuclear and electronic materials, ion beam analysis.

Pavel Tsvetkov Associate Professor Graduate Program Adviser Ph.D., Texas A&M University

tsvetkov@tamu.edu

System analysis and optimization methods, complex engineered systems, system design, symbiotic nuclear energy systems, waste minimization, sustainability, HTGRs & cogeneration systems, direct nuclear energy conversion systems.

Galina Tsvetkova Lecturer Ph.D., Texas A&M University

tsvetkovag@tamu.edu

Reactor physics, small nuclear power and cogeneration applications, nuclear data management systems, isotope separations, molecular dynamics and separations phenomena.

Karen Vierow Associate Professor Associate Department Head Ph.D., University of Tokyo

vierow@tamu.edu

Thermal hydraulics, multiphase flow, particularly condensation heat transfer, reactor safety, severe accident analysis, reactor design.

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engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

RETIRED FACULTY Leslie Braby

Senior Lecturer Emeritus TEES Research Professor Ph.D., Oregon State University

labraby@tamu.edu

Radiation dosimetry, microdosimetry, biological effects of radiation, microbeam lab, food irradiation.

William Marlow

Professor Emeritus Ph.D., University of Texas w-marlow@tamu.edu Physics of molecular clusters and small particle interactions (aerosols), applications in materials, radioactivity and disperse materials, environmental and health protection.

Paul Nelson Professor Emeritus TEES Research Engineer Ph.D., University of New Mexico

p-nelson@tamu.edu

Transport theory, computational methods, management of nuclear materials.

Theodore (Ted) Parish

Professor Emeritus Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

theodoreparish@cableone.net

Milton McClain

Professor Emeritus Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology

mclain-2@hotmail.com

Analysis of policy options for storage & disposal of used nuclear fuel, nuclear fuel recycling, breeding plutonium, elimination of transuranics.

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

GIVE A GIFT, EMPOWER A FUTURE

ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

Education is a gift that keeps giving throughout one’s life, long after college is over.

The Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University has graduated more nuclear engineers since the early 1960s than any other school in the country. More important than just the number of graduates is the quality of those graduates.

We go above and beyond to recognize the potential in students, and provide them with an education to be proud of. We continuously strive to inspire our students, faculty and staff to be the best that they can be.

We stand by our vision: to develop and maintain a nationally and internationally recognized program that promotes a passion for understanding and to apply the knowledge of nuclear science and engineering to support the nation’s alternative energy, national security and healthcare missions.

Our program is constantly evolving and is focused on developing and strengthening every facet required to raise student achievement in and out of college. We aspire to be better and to improve year by year. For that we require your support. The search for the best students is tougher than ever. As we continue our tradition of producing the high-quality nuclear engineers the industry needs, a key factor is the ability to attract the most academically capable students.

Some of the best and brightest high school students cannot afford today’s tuition and scholarships open a world of possibilities to them. For others, a scholarship frees them from student jobs, giving them more time to follow their intellectual curiosity or participate in Texas A&M’s characterbuilding, student-led organizations.

There are many opportunities available for empowering the students of the department. Scholarships drive the spirit and guide the minds of generations of Aggies, so they can affect the world in productive and inventive ways. When you fund a scholarship, you’re making a profound difference for individual students and the lives those students touch as graduates of Texas A&M. Contact Reagan Chessher, Director of Development, to make a difference in a student’s life. office: 979.862.1936, cell: 979.324.7404, email: rchessher@tamu.edu

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engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

GRADUATE THESES & DISSERTATIONS Doctor of Philosophy Student Name

Faculty Adviser

Dissertation Title

Ahmad Al Rashdan

Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov

Multivariable System Evaluation Method via Adaptive Sequential Parametric Combinatorics

Di Chen

Dr. Lin Shao

Marc Delchini

Dr. Jean Ragusa

Matthew Fitzmaurice

Dr. Leslie Braby

Jesse Johns

Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov

Student Name Saya Lee Ahmad Al Rashdan Peter Maginot Di Chen

Faculty Adviser Dr. Yassin Hassan Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov Drs. Jean Ragusa andLin JimShao Morel Dr.

Marc Delchini

Dr. Jean Ragusa

Michael Reed

Drs. Jim Morel & Marvin Adams

William Sames

Dr. Sean McDeavitt

Grant Spence

Dr. William Charlton A Reactor Burnup Code with Uncertainty Quantification

Shamsul Sulaiman

Dr. Yassin Hassan

Jun Soo Yoo Student Name

Atomic Scale Details of Defect-Boundary Interactions Extension of the Entropy Viscosity Method to the low-Mach Euler Equations and the Seven-Equation Two-Phase Flow Development of an Optimized Delivery Method of Surface Irradiation using an Electron Beam Physics-Based Predictive Time Propagation Method for Monte Carlo Coupled Depletion Simulations Dissertation Title Pressure Drop and Filtration through Fibrous Porous Media in Sump Strainers of Light Water Reactors Multivariable System Evaluation Method via Adaptive Higher Order Discontinuous Finite Element Methods For DiscreteScale Ordinates Thermal Radiative Transfer Atomic Details of Defect-Boundary Interactions Extension of the Entropy Viscosity Method to the low-Mach Euler Equations and the Seven-Equation Two-Phase Flow A Second Order Linear Discontinuous Cut-Cell Discretization for the Sn Equations in RZ Geometry Additive Manufacturing of Inconel 718 using Electron Beam Melting: Processing, Post-Processing, & Mechanical Properties

Experimental Investigations of Flow Behavior Inside the Upper Plenum of TAMU Air-Cooled Reactor Cavity Cooling System Experimental Study on the Subcooled Boiling Flow Via Optical Dr. Yassin Hassan TechniquesEngineering Master of Measurement Science: Nuclear Faculty Adviser

Tariq Yaqoob Dr. Yassin Hassan Sayed Alhashimi

Thesis Title Measurement of the Temperature Profile in the Reactor Cavity Cooling System

Christopher Chance

Drs. Jean Ragusa & Partial Core Blockage Simulation Using Cobra-TF Yassin Hassan

William Cook

Dr. Yassin Hassan

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

Multi-Dimensional Nodalization of a Pressurized Water Reactor core Using a Relap5-3D

Christopher Chance William Cook Daniel Gaclicki Natalie Galegar

Drs. Jean Ragusa & Partial Core Blockage Simulation Using Cobra-TF Yassin Hassan ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015 Multi-Dimensional Nodolization of a Pressurized Water Reactor core Dr. Yassin Hassan Using a Relap5-3D Establishment of a Rotating Electrode System for Production of Dr. Sean McDeavitt Uranium Alloy Microspheres Evaluation of Instantaneous Pressure Measurements on a Rod Dr. Yassin Hassan Surface in a 5 X 5 Bundle and Validation through CFD

Michael Gorman Dr. Yassin Hassan

Characterization of the Thermal Hydraulic Behavior of an Experimental Reactor Cavity Cooling System with Water

Transmutation of Long Lived Fission Products in Charged Particle Fields Feasibility of Remote Nuclear Reactor Antineutrino Directionality Daniel Hellfeld Dr. Craig Marianno via Elastic Electron Scattering in the Water Cherenkov Monitor of Anti-Neutrinos (WATCHMAN) Semin-Analytic Solutions to the 3- Temperature and Daniel Holladay Dr. Ryan McClarren 2-Temperature Thermal Radiative Transfer Equations via Heterogeneous Computing Dr. William Use of a High-Purity Germanium Semiconductor Detector for Steven Horowitz Charlton Rapid Post-Nuclear Event Forensics and Attribution Particle Size Distributions of Debris Upstream and Downstream Matthew Kappes Dr. Yassin Hassan of the Containment Sump Strainer in a Light Water Reactor Radiolysis of Amino Acids: A Study Using Raman Spectroscopy, Jijie Lou Dr. Gamal Akabani Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrophotometry and Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Jason Hearne

Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov

John Martin

Dr. William Charlton

John Martinez

Dr. Sean McDeavitt Statewise Correlates of Civil Nuclear Energy

Fatih Sarikurt

Dr. Yassin Hassan

Prototype Demonstration of Gamma Insensitive Centrifugally Tensioned Metastable Fluid Neutron/Alpha Detector

CFD Simulations of erosion of a stratified layer by a buoyant jet in a large vessel

Zirconium Nitride Coating Fabrication via Fluidized-Bed Chemical Vapor Disposition Fabrication and Characterization of Uranium-MolybdenumConnor Woolum Dr. Sean McDeavitt Zirconium Alloys Laura Sudderth

Dr. Sean McDeavitt

Master of Science: Health Physics Student Name Tyler Cantrell

Faculty Adviser Dr. Gamal Akabani

William Gordon

Dr. Leslie Braby

Marina Pulley

Dr. Gamal Akabani

Research Title The Development of an Optimized Generator Production Method for the Routine Production of Zinc-62/ Copper-62 Analysis of Microphonic Noise Genesis and Mitigation in a Boron Carbide Detector System Energy Deposition and Dosimetry of Iodine-125 and TIN-117M Labeled Gold Nanoparticles: A Computational Model Using GEANT4-DNA 31

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engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear

NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID COLLEGE STATION TEXAS 77843 PERMIT NO. 215

The Department of Nuclear Engineering 210A AI Engineering Building 3313 TAMU College Station, TX 77843-3133 979.845.4161 College Station, TX 77843-0000

EXCELLENCE. LEADERSHIP. INTEGRITY.

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DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

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