2022 Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Award Winners

The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply Chain, congratulates the following winners of the 2022 Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Awards.

Winners of the Open Competition
Advanced Fuels
First Place Alejandro Figueroa Purdue University An Iterative Estimation Approach to Simultaneously De-Curtain and De-Noise FIB Damaged Nuclear Fuel Microstructures	Second Place Neal Gaffin University of Tennessee at Knoxville Consolidation Behavior of Mo30W Alloy Using Spark Plasma Sintering

Advanced Reactor Systems
First Place Matthew Krecicki Georgia Institute of Technology Thermal Hydraulic Modeling of Solid Fueled Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactors Part I: Development and Verification	Second Place Timothy Kiefer North Carolina State University Control Rod Modeling in Liquid Metal-Cooled Fast Reactors

Energy Policy
First Place Hannah Patenaude University of Nevada at Las Vegas Topical Analysis of Nuclear Experts' Perceptions of Publics, Nuclear Energy, and Sustainable Futures	Second Place Megan Harkema Vanderbilt University The Dynamic Nature of Risk in DOE Facilities in the Surveillance and Maintenance Program - with Observations for Risk Communications

Material Protection, Control, and Accountancy
First Place Nathan Giha University of Michigan Organic Glass Scintillator Bars with Dual-Ended Readout	Second Place Emily Kwapis University of Florida Tracking of Individual TRISO-fueled Pebbles through the Application of X-ray Imaging and Deep Metric Learning

Material Recovery and Waste Form Development
First Place Sylvia Hanna Northwestern University Discovery of Spontaneous De-Interpenetration through Charged Point-Point Repulsions	Second Place Bethany Kersten Case Western Reserve University The Future of Nuclear Energy: Electrochemical Reprocessing of Fuel Takes Center Stage

Nuclear Science and Engineering
First Place Julia Knapp Northwestern University Electron Transitions in a Ce(III)-Catecholate Metal-Organic Framework	Second Place Peter Kowal Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute A Programmatic Metamodel-Driven Modeling Paradigm for MCNP

Winners of the Competition for Students Attending Universities with Less than $600 Million in 2020 Science and Engineering R&D Expenditures
Tanner Hall University of Utah Computational and Experimental Optimization of ¹³⁵Xe Production in Calibration Sources	Harry Jang University of Nevada at Las Vegas Synthetic Diversity in the Preparation of Metallic Uranium

Bryant Kanies North Carolina State University Thermoluminescence and Optically Stimulated Luminescence Response of Al₂O₃ Coatings Deposited by Mist-Chemical Vapor Deposition	Alexandre Solomon University of Tennessee at Knoxville Transformations to Amorphous and X-Type Phases in Swift Heavy Ion-Irradiated Ln₂O₃ and Mn₂O₃

Tyler Williams Brigham Young University Review - Concentration Measurements in Molten Chloride Salts Using Electrochemical Methods

Winners of the Undergraduate Competition
Loris Jautakas University of Michigan Comparison of Different Simple Circuit Designs for a Raspberry Pi Based and Cell Phone Controlled Geiger-Mueller Radiation Detection System	Thomas Kennings University of Michigan Radon-222 Charcoal Canister Steady State Model Calibrations Performed in a Highly Controlled Environmental Chamber and a Natural Indoor Environment

Andrew Kent University of Michigan Data Security Considerations for Networked and Remote Stations in a Radiation and Weather Monitoring System	Caleb King Virginia Commonwealth University The Benefits of Chromium-Coated Zircaloy as Accident Tolerant Nuclear Fuel Cladding: An Overview

Aiden Sable University of Michigan Realistic Implementation of Radiation Physics for a Virtual Reality Game Programmed in Unity for an Oculus Quest

2022 Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Award Winners

Winners of the Open Competition

Winners of the Competition for Students Attending Universities with Less than $600 Million in 2020 Science and Engineering R&D Expenditures

Winners of the Undergraduate Competition