NPRE awarded DOE Grant for Reactor Materials Study

Researchers from the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering (NPRE) will share in a $538,000 Department of Energy grant to study materials that can withstand very high temperatures and resist corrosion in nuclear reactors.

According to NPRE Department Head James Stubbins, principal investigator in the project, such materials would allow for more efficient energy use and would offer protection from leaks.

"The idea that we propose is to develop material that could go to very high temperatures for energy in general, but nuclear energy in particular, without corrosion," Stubbins explained. "They'll last much longer and run at higher temperatures to efficiently convert steam to electricity. In most cases, two-thirds of the energy is lost in the conversion process."

NPRE Associate Professor Brent Heuser joins Stubbins in the project, which includes collaborators from across campus: Petros Sofronis and Huseyin Sehitoglu from the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering; Ian Robertson, Department of Materials Science and Engineering; and Andy Gewirth, chemistry.

The U.S. Department of Energy research grant is focused on developing cutting-edge nuclear energy technologies and training and educating the next generation of leaders in the U.S. nuclear industry.
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Contact: James F. Stubbins, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, 217//333-2295.

Writer: Susan Mumm, coordinator, Alumni Relations & Development Office, Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering, 217/244-5382.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.