Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives (NSSPI) Director and Associate Professor of nuclear engineering at Texas A&M University Dr. Sunil Chirayath has been named to the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) World Research Hub Initiative (WRHI) as a specially appointed associate professor. WRHI is part of the Institute of Innovative Research at Tokyo […]
NSSPI Welcomes New Stanton Fellows
In September, two new Stanton Nuclear Security Fellows joined the Department of Nuclear Engineering and will be working with the Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives (NSSPI) for the 2018-2019 academic year. The Stanton Nuclear Security Fellows Program supports young scholars to pursue policy-relevant technical research in nuclear security for a twelve-month period […]
Group Hexavalent Actinide Separations: A New Approach to Used Nuclear Fuel Recycling
Abstract: This work demonstrates the first ever co-crystallization of Am(VI) with UO2(NO3)2·6H2O, a group co-crystallization of Np(VI)−Am(VI) with UO2(NO3)2·6H2O, a separation of An(VI) species from An(III) species, and a group separation of An(VI) from key fission products. This result opens the door to a new paradigm of nuclear fuel recycling, in which the bulk […]
NSSPI Hosts Stanton Fellow to Research Proliferation Risk of Pyroprocessing
The TEES Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives (NSSPI) is currently hosting the first ever Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at Texas A&M University. Dr. Seung Min Woo is spending a year with NSSPI researching the value of pyroprocessing to reduce the proliferation risk of closed nuclear fuel cycles. He is working with Dr. […]
NSSPI researchers working to make nuclear facilities safer–and more secure
A loss of offsite power event at a nuclear power plant, also called a LOOP event, is considered a serious safety risk that could put many lives in danger. After the 2012 incident at the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant in Japan, which involved an extended loss of offsite power in the wake of a massive earthquake […]
Burns receives NEUP award to develop used nuclear fuel recycle process
Dr. Jonathan Burns, an associate research scientist with the Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI), was recently awarded a research and development award of close to $400,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of their Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP). Burns’s project, which focuses on group actinide separation by crystallization, was one […]
Consolidated Nuclear Security Leadership Visits NSSPI to Discuss Collaboration on Research and Education
On April 14th and 15th, NSSPI hosted a group of subject matter experts from the Y-12 National Security Complex and the Pantex Plant, both of which are managed and operated by Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS). The group consisted of Senior Director for Global Security and Strategic Partnerships Morris Hassler, Nuclear Engineer and International […]
NSSPI Students Win AREVA-Canberra Film Contest
Jennifer Erchinger, Jose Trevino, Timothy Jacomb-Hood, Manit Shah and Micheal Smith, nuclear engineering graduate students working with NSSPI faculty member Dr. Craig Marianno, won first place at the Canberra University Video Challenge. Their video highlights examples of students using Canberra products in their classes and research in radiation detection. A variety of products are shown as […]
NSSPI Part of Team Selected for NEUP R&D Award
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 […]
NSSPI Researchers Hit the Field
This week health physics researchers from the nation’s largest nuclear engineering department are teaming up with the largest animal science department to examine how pedestrian radiation portals can be used to identify contamination on cattle following a radiological event. The tests they will be performing are part of a project funded by the National Institute […]
Nelson Receives Two Awards from the NEUP
Dr. Paul Nelson, NSSPI Associate Director for International Programs, was awarded over $1.1 million in research grants from the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Engineering University Program (NEUP). The projects chosen for award were “Improved Safety Margin Characterization of Risk from Loss of Offsite Power” and “Correlates of Sensitive Technologies.” For the first project, Dr. Nelson […]
NSF-DNDO Academic Research Initiative to Fund NSSPI Research on Plutonium Signatures
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has chosen a project proposed by NSSPI faculty member, Dr. Sunil Chirayath, along with Dr. David Boyle, NSSPI Deputy Director, and Dr. Charles M. Folden, III, of the TAMU Cyclotron Institute, to receive an award under the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) Academic Research Initiative. The award in the amount […]
SHIELD Researchers Take Measurements at the Port of Tacoma
From August 26 -30, NSSPI faculty member Dr. Craig Marianno and Dr. Sunil Khatri from the TAMU Department of Electrical Engineering, along with NSSPI graduate students Matthew Grypp and Gentry Hearn, traveled to the Port of Tacoma to conduct gamma measurement experiments at the port’s Rail Test Center. This work is part of the multi-disciplinary […]
RAP-NIS Student Research Symposium Brings Together Students from the US and Russia
NSSPI students and staff traveled to the Labor Spiez in Switzerland from July 25-27 for the Russian Academic Program in Nonproliferation and International Security (RAP-NIS) Student Research Symposium. The Student Research Symposium allows students from the US and Russia to share their graduate research and build professional relationships. NSSPI students Roushan Ghanbari and Travis Gitau joined students […]
Goddard and Ryan Perform Neutron Measurements at the Joint Research Center
Nuclear Security Science and Policy (NSSPI) Graduate Assistant Researchers, Braden Goddard and Chris Ryan, traveled to the European Commission Joint Research Center (JRC) in Ispra, Italy from December 4 through December 11, 2010, to perform neutron measurements in support of Goddard’s Ph.D. research. The objective of the measurements was to detect neutrons in coincidence using […]