Nora Wang, an energy efficiency researcher at PNNL, is one of 82 early-career engineers from across the country invited to participate in the annual NAE Frontiers of Engineering symposium.
The U.S. could slash its energy use by the equivalent of what is currently used by 12 to 15 million Americans if commercial buildings fully used energy-efficiency controls nationwide.
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.
Cybersecurity is increasingly top-of-mind and in the news. Individuals worry about identify theft and the compromise of financial and medical records. And the federal government battles myriad threats aimed at our national security.
