Bio

Elijah Payton Bow earned his Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University in August 2026. Bow conducted his thesis research under committee chair Dr. Craig Marianno and co-chair Dr. Pavel V. Tsvetkov. He also earned his bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M in 2024.

Bow’s research focused on improving the computational methods used to evaluate nuclear criticality safety. His work examined tantalum, a material with properties attractive for processes involving the casting of actinide metals, including plutonium. Reliable nuclear data for tantalum help researchers assess how it affects the behavior of these systems and establish safe operating limits.

Using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code and its Whisper statistical analysis package, Bow investigated how incorporating a new critical benchmark experiment affected calculated safety limits for plutonium systems with tantalum reflectors. His work addressed validation needs relevant to Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Savannah River Site Plutonium Processing Facility, supporting efforts to strengthen the technical basis for nuclear material processing safety.

After graduation, Bow joined Los Alamos National Laboratory in the Criticality Safety Division.