Seminar Series

Vision Seminar: March 24, 2025

2:00 p.m., Farris Student Lounge

Research Seminar: March 25, 2025

2:00 p.m., Farris Student Lounge

Fueling Innovation: Advancing Nuclear Nonproliferation Solutions

Abstract: The promise of nuclear energy as a clean, reliable power source is tempered by the persistent threat of proliferation. To realize the full potential of nuclear power while safeguarding against its misuse requires innovative solutions. GT’s Laboratory for Advanced Nuclear Nonproliferation and Safety is leading developments in nanotechnologies for radiation sensing applications as well as detection for antineutrino monitoring of nuclear reactors and active interrogation of cargo containers in support of homeland security. Part of the seminar will cover the activities associated with the NNSA Consortium for Enabling Technologies and Innovation (ETI), which is uniting academia, industry, and national laboratories while creating a dynamic ecosystem for research and development focused on nuclear nonproliferation. ETI, representing a team of twelve universities and twelve national laboratories has a unique mission to direct the multidisciplinary research and innovation that enable the technologies that support the NNSA DNN R&D, to train and educate the next generation of researchers, and to bridge the gap between university basic research and the national laboratories’ mission-specific applications. The technical mission of the ETI team is to advance technologies across three core disciplines: (TA1) data science and digital technologies in nuclear security and nonproliferation; (TA2) precision environmental analysis for enhanced nuclear nonproliferation vigilance and emergency response; and (TA3) emerging technologies. The primary thrust areas will be advanced by cross-cutting research projects in (CC1) novel radiation detectors and algorithms and (CC2) testbeds and digital twins.

Bio: Prof. Anna Erickson earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Nuclear Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2008 and 2011, respectively. She is a Professor of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering in the G.W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and an adjunct professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering and the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology. She previously served as the Associate Chair for Research for the Woodruff School, leading efforts to develop research strategic vision and to establish critical relationships with government agencies, government labs, industry, and foundations. Prof. Erickson is the leader of the Laboratory for Advanced Nonproliferation and Safety, which focuses on bridging a critical gap between the reactor engineering and nuclear nonproliferation communities by integrating theoretical reactor analysis and design and experimental detection. Prior to Georgia Tech, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Rare Event Detection group and NNSA Stewardship Science Graduate Fellow. During her appointment at GT, she was also holding an affiliate role at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2012-2014).

Prof. Erickson is the Director of the Consortium for Enabling Technologies and Innovation, a which is composed of fourteen institutions of higher education (IHE) and twelve national laboratories, a $50M grant supported by the National Nuclear Security Administration since 2019. ETI is tasked with creating a research and education environment to support cross-cutting technologies in support of nuclear nonproliferation.

In addition to ETI, Prof. Erickson’s extensive research program has been supported by DHS, DOE NNSA, DOE NE, NSF, ARPA-E and other agencies and companies. She is a co-author of Active Interrogation in Nuclear Security: Science, Technology, and Systems, published by Nature Springer in 2018, and over a hundred of journal publications, conference proceedings and presentations. Her recent academic activities have been focused on development of a new graduate stand-alone cross-college certificate program titled “Emerging Technologies and Proliferation: Social, Technical, and Strategic Considerations.'' The courses provide an overview of nuclear engineering and emerging technologies and the primary debates in the field of international security concerning new technologies and nuclear proliferation.

She is a recipient of numerous awards, including E. Gail de Planque Medal, Arthur Holly Compton Award in Education, Radiation Science & Technology Division Award, and Mary Jane Oestmann Professional Women's Achievement Award from the American Nuclear Society. She was a Participant in Emory University Academic Leadership Program (2023-2024 cohort), and Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science (ELATES, 2022-2023).

Vision Seminar: March 12, 2025

2:00 p.m., Farris Student Lounge

Research Seminar: March 13, 2025

2:00 p.m., Farris Student Lounge

Ions, Electrons, and Plasmas, Oh My!: Research in the BEARS Lab

Abstract: Research in the BEARS Lab focuses on key science questions that drive technological advancements. The group investigates how materials perform under extreme conditions such as high heat flux, plasma, radiation, large magnetic field, high friction, and corrosive environments. The goal is to understand material behavior across length scales, correlate these effects with performance, and propose improvements.

Recent research includes studying tokamak first walls and divertors, as well as nuclear thruster and jet engine surfaces. These systems are often difficult to study due to their size, cost, or accessibility, especially under operational or off-normal conditions. To address these challenges, the BEARS Lab uses bench-scale experiments that simulate relevant conditions, paired with computational models to analyze these environments.

For instance, in magnetically confined fusion reactors, the divertor region faces extreme heat loads (MW/m²) and plasma densities (10¹⁹/m³) during normal operations, with even higher loads during disruptions. Understanding the damage mechanisms from high heat and particle fluxes is a priority in both international and domestic fusion research. Due to limited access to tokamaks, we use a bench-top experiment that replicates divertor-like plasma conditions, allowing us to test various materials without restrictions and conduct high-throughput tests. These experiments provide data on plasma conditions and material samples, which are then analyzed for changes in properties and microstructure. We also use two computational models to study plasma behavior and particle-material interactions, helping us correlate plasma conditions with material effects.

In addition to divertor research, the lab investigates materials for nuclear thermal rockets, plasma-enhanced flow control in gas turbines, nanocomposite coatings for steel in nuclear waste storage casks, and the impact of high-energy lasers on refractory metals and carbides. Other studies include modeling heat transfer from magnetically excited nanoparticles to tissue as a potential cancer treatment method. This seminar will highlight recent work and explore potential new research directions.

Bio: Leigh Winfrey is a Professor of Engineering at SUNY Maritime College, where she previously served as the inaugural Dean of Engineering. Prior to joining Maritime College, Dr. Winfrey was a professor of nuclear engineering at Penn State, the University of Florida, and Virginia Tech. Her research spans a wide range of topics including plasma-material interactions, fusion reactor materials and safety, nuclear propulsion materials, corrosion mitigation, high-velocity projectile launch, gas turbine flow control, and novel materials synthesis. Dr. Winfrey is the Editor of Fusion Science and Technology and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Nuclear Society.

Vision Seminar: March 10, 2025

2:00 p.m., Farris Student Lounge, with student meet and greet to follow

Research Seminar: March 11, 2025

2:00 p.m., Farris Student Lounge

A Journey through Membrane Materials: Natural, Synthetic and Somewhere in Between

Abstract: Nuclear power plants continue to be faced with a challenging economic reality that has led to the premature closure of many plants in the US fleet. William Levis, President and Chief Operating Officer, PSEG Power, succinctly described the situation in the forward to NEI’s Delivering the Nuclear Promise®: Advancing Safety, Reliability and Economic Performance, a reality that has not improved significantly the decade since that initiative was launched:

“Nuclear energy is carbon-free and large-scale, and our industry has delivered on its promise to generate energy safely and reliably. Yet nuclear energy still is not economically competitive in many electricity markets. That is our industry’s most significant challenge and the one promise that we have yet to deliver.”

Controlling the day-to-day operations and maintenance (O&M) costs associated with nuclear power is one of the primary avenues for improving the economic outlook for the current and future nuclear industry. The current approach to O&M relies primarily on license-based periodic inspection and maintenance activities scheduled to preclude in-service degradation and failure; however, this approach often leads to unnecessary and costly activities. Current trends in the nuclear industry are moving away from purely time-based inspection, maintenance, and replacement toward risk-informed practices, based in part on the greater situational awareness provided by online equipment condition assessment of key components and systems. With the emergence of new machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches, opportunities to extract actionable knowledge from measured data have never been greater. This seminar will overview research efforts in online equipment condition assessment, fault detection and diagnostics, and failure prognostics for active equipment in nuclear power plants and methods to integrate this knowledge into robust decision making, including maintenance planning and integration with Digital Twins for O&M support.

Bio: Dr. Jamie Baalis Coble is a Professor, Southern Company Faculty Fellow, and Associate Department Head in the Nuclear Engineering department at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Dr. Coble’s expertise is primarily in data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence approaches for equipment condition assessment, process and system monitoring, anomaly detection and diagnosis, failure prognosis, and integrated decision making. Her research interests expand on past work in nuclear system monitoring and prognostics to incorporate system monitoring and remaining useful life estimates into risk assessment, operations and maintenance planning, optimal control algorithms, and digital twin simulations, as well as other applications of machine learning and AI in support of nuclear power operations. Prior to joining the UT faculty, she worked in the Applied Physics group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Dr. Coble is currently pursuing research in prognostics and health management for active components and systems; advanced control strategies for integration of small modular reactors and multi-modular reactors with deep renewable penetration; methods to improve decision making in O&M of nuclear power facilities; use of GenAI in nuclear operations and regulatory contexts; and applications of digital twins and AI for nuclear security.