Steve Short, a nuclear engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has been selected as a fellow of the National Society of Professional Engineers.
To study some of the tiniest particles in the universe, an international band of physicists is building a massive instrument to look for signs of particles predicted to be fundamental to the workings of the universe.
PNNL tools that track underground contaminants and speed carbon capture technology development are among R&D Magazine's 100 most innovative scientific breakthroughs of the year.
In fast-neutron reactors, fuel is sealed in ~7 millimeter diameter steel tubes called cladding. When a high-energy "fast" neutron strikes an atom in the steel, it can knock the atom out of place, like a cue ball striking another billiard ball. This leaves two types of damage in the metal: an empty spot where the atom was, and the displaced atom wedged between other atoms. Over time, these defects typically drive undesirable rearrangement of the microstructure, potentially reducing the life of the cladding.