NSSPI student Alison Goodsell was awarded the Isotopes and Radiation Session Award at the 2012 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Student Conference, which was held April 12-15 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Goodsell presented research on the use of a quartz-crystal x-ray spectrometer to improve the detection of the Pu and U x-ray peaks in spent fuel by reducing the Compton background. The overall scope of the presentation was on the design process for the quartz crystal and the customized tungsten collimator system.