Nuclear Criticality Safety Pipeline Course with Hands-On Experimental Training at Lawrence Livermore's Inherently Safe Subcritical Assembly Training Center
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Nuclear Criticality Safety Division
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
The Nuclear Criticality Safety Divisions at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) have partnered with Prof. Massimiliano Fratoni of the University of California Berkeley to offer a semester long course on nuclear criticality safety. This course is part of a larger pipeline project among many of the Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories designed to stimulate student interest in the field of criticality safety. The course focuses on teaching the fundamentals of criticality safety, familiarity with national and consensus standards, and preparing criticality safety evaluations. Students also receive hands-on experience with special nuclear material by performing experiments with the Inherently Safe Subcritical Assembly (ISSA) at LLNL. Guest lectures are taught remotely and in-person by criticality safety engineers at LLNL and LANL, giving students an opportunity to interact with professionals in the field. The students complete a semester long project involving developing and writing a criticality safety evaluation. As universities tend to focus heavily on nuclear power and advanced nuclear reactor design, this course gives students a better understanding and perspective of what criticality safety entails. The goal of this pipeline course is to introduce students to criticality safety as another available field for nuclear engineers. It is also a way for criticality safety programs to identify talented students who have the interest and aptitude to work in criticality safety for hire upon graduation. LLNL and LANL have both hosted past students as summer students, participated in student's graduate projects, and hired students as criticality safety engineers. This has provided a unique opportunity for criticality safety programs to spot young talent with better retention outcomes.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344
- OSTI ID:
- 1973390
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-ABS-841056
- Journal Information:
- ANS Proceedings of Topical Meetings, Conference: Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2023), Innovative Use of Technology in Training: I , Amelia Island, FL (United States), 6-9 Feb 2023; Related Information: https://www.ans.org/meetings/conte23/session/view-1566/
- Publisher:
- American Nuclear Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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