2014 Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Award Winners

The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Fuel Cycle Technologies congratulates the following winners of the 2014 Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards.

Winners of the Open Competition

Advanced Fuels
Kale Stephenson
First Place
Kale Stephenson
University of Michigan
Crack Initiation Behavior of Neutron Irradiated Model and Commercial Stainless Steels in High Temperature Water
Daniel Walter
Second Place
Daniel Walter
University of Michigan
High Fidelity Simulation of Crud Deposition on a PWR Fuel Cell with Spacer Grids over a 500 Day Depletion Cycle

Energy Policy
Timothy Ault
First Place
Timothy Ault
Vanderbilt University
Potential Synergy: The Thorium Fuel Cycle and Rare Earths Processing
Matthew Gidden
Second Place
Matthew Gidden
University of Wisconsin at Madison
An Agent-Based Framework for Fuel Cycle Simulation with Recycling

Materials Protection, Control, and Accountancy
Alexis Kaplan
First Place
Alexis Kaplan
University of Michigan
EJ-309 Pulse Shape Discrimination Performance with a High Gamma-Ray-to-Neutron Ratio and Low Threshold
Troy Unruh
Second Place
Troy Unruh
Idaho State University
In-core Flux Sensor Evaluations at the ATR Critical Facility

Nuclear Science and Engineering
Andrew Pavlou
First Place
Andrew Pavlou
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
High Fidelity Simulation of Crud Deposition on a PWR Fuel Cell with Spacer Grids over a 500 Day Depletion Cycle
Jonathan Walsh
Second Place
Jonathan Walsh
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Accelerated Sampling of the Free Gas Resonance Elastic Scattering Kernel

Separations and Waste Forms
Carter Abney
First Place
Carter Abney
University of Chicago
Highly Porous and Stable Metal-organic Frameworks for Uranium Extraction
T. Gannon Parker
Second Place
T. Gannon Parker
Florida State University
Ionothermal and Hydrothermal Flux Syntheses of Five New Uranyl Phosphonates

Used Fuel Disposition
Alex Salazar
First Place
Alex Salazar
University of California at Berkeley
Effect of Temperature on Permeability of Cement Sealant for Deep Borehole Repositories
Hilary Emerson
Second Place
Hilary Emerson
Clemson University
Geochemical Controls of Iodine Uptake and Transport in Savannah River Site Subsurface Sediments

Winners of the Competition for Students Who Attend Universities with Less Than $600 Million in 2011 R&D Expenditures

Devin Rappleye
Devin Rappleye
University of Utah
A Method for Monitoring Deposition at a Solid Cathode in an Electrorefiner for a Two-Species System Using Electrode Potentials
Catherine Riddle
Catherine Riddle
University of Nevada at Las Vegas
Characterization of Bismuthate Oxidized Americium (V,VI) in Acidic Solution using X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy

Danil Smiles
Danil Smiles
University of California at Santa Barbara
Synthesis of Uranium-Ligand Multiple Bonds by Cleavage of a Trityl Protecting Group
Matthew Swenson
Matthew Swenson
Boise State University
Correlation between the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Irradiated Fe-9Cr ODS

Ammon Williams
Ammon Williams
Virginia Commonwealth University
Separation of CsCl from a Ternary CsCl-LiCl-KCl Salt Via a Melt Crystallization Technique for Pyroprocessing Waste Minimization

Winners of the Undergraduate Competition

David Harding
David Harding
University of Texas at Austin
Improving Inert Matrix Fuel Burnup Using a Linear Model
Michael Perlin
Michael Perlin
Oregon State University
Options for a Sustainable MOX Fuel Cycle in PWRs for Rapid Utilization of Recycled Plutonium

Timothy Smith
Timothy Smith
University of Texas at Austin
Comparison of Actinide Production in Traveling Wave and Pressurized Water Reactors