The Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Lab Awarded $385K in Experiment Funding
The Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Laboratory (NRL) received awards totaling $385,000 during 2018 from The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) program.
As one of only four NSUF Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research (CINR) awards that the DOE granted in 2018 through the Nuclear Energy University Program, this project will investigate important sensor material for reactor applications:
- “Irradiation Behavior of Piezoelectric Materials for Nuclear Reactor Sensors” (Marat Khafizov, The Ohio State University)
Through three NSUF Rapid Turnaround Experiment (RTE) awards, the NRL collaborated with researchers from across the country to continue to advance the understanding of irradiation effects in sensor and sensor materials in support of the mission of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy. The NSUF competitively selected these projects based on a variety of factors including feasibility, mission relevance, and scientific-technical merit:
- “Neutron Irradiation of Ga2O3 to Identify Native Point Defects” (Leonard Brillson, The Ohio State University)
- “Active Irradiation Testing of Temperature Sensing Capability of Clad Sapphire Optical Fibers with Type 2 Bragg Gratings using Optical Backscatter Reflectometry” (Christian Petrie, Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
- “Transmutation doping of hexagonal boron nitride” (James Edgar, Kansas State University)
The behavior of fuels and materials in a nuclear reactor irradiation environment is extremely complex and provides a rich field for scientific investigation. Experiments at the NRL to date have largely focused on the study of in-core neutron sensors and sensor materials, which supports the development of future reactor designs.
“The hard work of the NRL staff and The Ohio State University’s commitment to leading emerging energy research is evident in the multiple awards that have been received through this program” says NRL Director Lei Raymond Cao. “We are pleased to have been selected and appreciate the confidence these researchers have placed in us.”
As the only operating research reactor currently in the State of Ohio, the NRL is a unique teaching and research laboratory that delivers high quality service to its customers and excellent instruction and research opportunities to nuclear engineering students. In 2017, the DOE designated the NRL as a partner facility of the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) program, allowing awarded researchers, often in collaboration with other laboratories and industry, to perform DOE mission-supporting research at the NRL at no cost to users. Experimenters interested in utilizing NRL facilities should e-mail reactor@osu.edu.
