On May 8, 2012 Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced more than $47 million in scholarships, fellowships, research grants, and university reactor upgrades. NSSPI Director Dr. William Charlton is a collaborator on one of the research projects selected to receive funding under the Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) awards for FY2012.
The project, led by TAMU-NE Associate Professor Dr. Sean McDeavitt, is titled “Prototype Demonstration of Gamma-Blind Tensioned Metastable Fluid Neutron / Multiplicity / Alpha Detector – Real Time Methods for Advanced Fuel Cycle Applications” and aims to create a prototype demonstration of a novel neutron/alpha detector based on a technology that is blind to gamma field used fuel. The prototype, if successful, will enhance instrumentation for monitoring real-time material balance during various stages of the nuclear cycle. The team was awarded a grant of $875,000 to complete this work. Other collaborators on the project include researchers at Purdue University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and AREVA.