Two professors from the Department of Nuclear Engineering received a grant from the U.S . Department of Energy to research better ways of storing spent nuclear fuel.
A total of $4.5 million has been granted by DOE to five universities including N.C . State. We are expected to get $700,000 which will be used in research under Korukonda Murty , professor of nuclear engineering, and Jacob Eapen , assistant professor of nuclear engineering.
The research will be conducted in integrated project which looks to strengthen nuclear programs at American universities as a part of NEUP (Nuclear Energy University Program) that will involve universities like the University of Wisconsin and be lead by researchers at Texas A&M.
Murty said researchers from national labs will also participate in the research.
“Some folks from national laboratories like Savannah Research Labs in South Carolina and Pacific Northwest Research Laboratories in Washington state are also involved in the research project,” Murty said.
According to Eapen , the role of N.C . State in the research is concerned with liability of transporting and storing spent nuclear fuel.
Currently spent nuclear fuel is stored in water pools which have a limited capacity when it comes to storing waste fuel. Researchers are looking at making feasible a new concept of ‘dry storage’ in which metal canisters are used to store the fuel once it has been cooled down by water.
“The [problem with dry storage is] as soon as you take it out of water, due to lack of cooling the residual heat and radioactive material, they may make the material deform and creep,” Murty said. “You don’t want anything to rupture and nuclear material to come out.”
Eapen and Murty’s work plan focuses on ‘low temperature creep.’
“Using the theoretical knowledge and experimental data we should be able to characterize long term storage of spent fuel. We will conduct short term tests and use the data to predict what will happen in thousand years.” Murty said.
Coming up with new materials for canisters in which used fuel is stored and sensors to monitor the fuel will also be a part of their study,” Murty said.
According to Murty , this research is necessary because of the huge amount of spent nuclear fuel being generated in the country.
“It becomes very important because of the 100 odd nuclear reactors that are operating in the country which are generating nuclear fuel which needs to be stored somewhere till government comes up with a plan and/or a site to store that fuel,” Murty said. “Meanwhile we have to see the transportation part of the dumping process.”
Students get a chance to get involved as professors look to get two graduate students and a post-doctoral research associate involved in the research. There will also be research opportunities for motivated undergraduates.
Murty said this is a big opportunity for N.C . State as it is now a part of national nuclear research project and he and Eapen are very excited. He said it helps the University collaborate on theoretical modeling and experimental aspects.
Murty will attend a meeting in November in Las Vegas where people from DOE, universities and various other organizations will gather and exchange the prevailing issues in the field.
In December the first official meeting of about 15 faculty members will take place to discuss plans on the research project.
Eapen said it testifies the strong nuclear engineering program at the University.
“We are one of the top ranking programs in the country and high profile projects like these will continue to attract top students to our program,” Eapen said.
Walter Ashburn, a sophomore in nuclear engineering, said students will highly benefit from the research.
“Not only will Murty and Eapen’s research help the global community, perhaps improving the way we store nuclear fuel, it will also help the university. Laboratories and equipment used by researchers here at N.C . State are often made available to students. This provides graduates and undergraduates better tools for furthering their education.” Ashburn said.
