Richard wins 2012 Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Award

Joshua Richard, a PhD student in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, has been awarded a first-place prize in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards competition. Richard’s award is in the open competition in the category of nuclear science and engineering for work performed while he was a master’s degree student at MIT. His award-winning research paper, “A Survey of Alternative Once-Through Fast Reactor Core Designs,” was presented at the International Conference on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP) in June 2012.

The academic community plays a vital role in helping to develop the advanced nuclear technologies that will help sustain and further expand nuclear power in the United States. The Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards program supports academia and the goal of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy to develop sustainable nuclear fuel cycle options by encouraging innovative research in fuel cycle related disciplines.

The Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards program is designed to:

1. award graduate and undergraduate students for innovative fuel-cycle-relevant research publications
2. demonstrate the Office of Fuel Cycle Technologies' commitment to higher education in fuel-cycle-relevant disciplines, and
3. support communications among students and DOE representatives.

The program awarded 24 prizes in 2012 for student publications and presentations relevant to the nuclear fuel cycle. In addition to cash awards, winning students will have a variety of other opportunities including presenting their winning publication during the American Nuclear Society Winter meeting, participating in an Innovators' Forum, and participating in the DOE Office of Fuel Cycle Technologies Annual Meeting.