Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives (NSSPI) students Anna Armstrong, Audrey Nguyen, and Robert Zedric have been selected for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Graduate Fellowship Program (NGFP). The NGFP is administered by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and provides students with a year-long, salaried fellowship that offers training and practical experience in nuclear security and nonproliferation.
“This one-year appointment is an incredible opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge and experience with the government in solving hard problems and keeping America safe,” said Zedric. “The skills I will gain in leadership and project management will help to carry me far in my future career within the Nuclear Security Enterprise and I cannot wait to begin.”
Armstrong is working with Dr. Sunil Chirayath to investigate safeguards approaches for Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This work involves radiation transport modeling and fuel burnup simulations of a thermal neutron spectrum MSR to compute the inventory of Special Nuclear Material production and flow rates in MSRs. She will be graduating this May with a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering, a Certificate in Nuclear Security, and a Certificate in Advanced International Affairs from the Bush School of Government and Public Service. Armstrong received a Bachelor of Science in nuclear engineering with a minor in radiological health engineering from Texas A&M University.
Nguyen is a Master of Science student working with Dr. Shaheen Dewji. Her research interests include dose quantification and modeling for emergency response following radiological or nuclear detonation events. Her current project involves using Monte Carlo techniques and source term fallout modeling, in conjunction with physiological models, to quantify radiation contamination and dose from uptakes in the eye. Nguyen earned her Bachelor of Science in radiological health engineering from Texas A&M with a minor in mathematics.
Zedric is a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Chirayath and Dr. Craig Marianno. His dissertation work is a continuation of research that he began at the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2015 using particle accelerators to study radiation detectors and their resilience to radiation-induced damage. During his year-long internship, he found that a certain type of radiation detector can benefit in performance when injected with high energy protons. He is now assembling a beam line at the nuclear engineering accelerator laboratory to study this further. Zedric came to Texas A&M in 2012 from the Missouri University of Science and Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in nuclear engineering.