Sean Martinson, a Ph.D. student working with the Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives (NSSPI), was selected as a G.T. Seaborg Institute Fellow for 2021. Sponsored by the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the G. T. Seaborg Institute for Transactinium Science, the fellowship allows students to join scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory in independent research projects that can contribute to their advanced degrees.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to have been selected as a G.T. Seaborg GRA Fellow,” Martinson remarked. “The Seaborg Institute provides an unmatched pathway between universities and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Los Alamos is a world-renowned institution in diverse STEM projects and this opportunity to be mentored by some of the foremost experts will be invaluable.”
Martinson is currently working with NSSPI Director Dr. Chirayath on nuclear forensics of foreign nuclear fuel cycles research that builds upon the work of previous NSSPI graduates. He is validating MCNP simulations of LEU UO2 material irradiation via radiochemical and quantitative methods. The data from this work will provide new measurements for the Maximum Likelihood Method developed by NSSPI graduate Dr. Jeremy Osborn, as well as the Machine Learning Algorithm being developed by fellow NSSPI student Patrick O’Neal. This project is supported by the Consortium for Monitoring, Technology, and Verification (MTV) out of the University of Michigan. Before joining NSSPI, Martinson graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. in Physics in 2018. He interned at the Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex in summer 2019 and has worked in a remote capacity for Argonne National Laboratory since summer 2020.