PNNL

Robert Montgomery is a senior nuclear engineer and technical team leader for the Nondestructive Evaluation team in the National Security Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Montgomery has been in the field since 1998, working on multi-physics modeling, analysis, and evaluation of nuclear fuel rod. Additionally, he has experience with assembly and structural material behavior under normal operations, transient conditions, and material in a defective state. His responsibilities have included leading efforts in material and constitutive model development for nuclear fuel materials; experimental design and analysis to investigate material behavior under a variety of irradiation conditions; modeling and analysis of nuclear fuel rod behavior; and interfacing with the following nuclear utilities: the Electric Power Research Institute, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, national laboratories, and international organizations. His work addresses performance, reliability, and safety issues related to light water reactor nuclear fuel behavior.

Montgomery is the regulatory and utility support task manager in the Tritium Technology program in support of the National Nuclear Security Administration. In this capacity, he is responsible for supporting the safety and licensing actions required to irradiate tritium producing burnable absorber rods in the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

• Nuclear engineering
• Nuclear fuel cycle
• Radiation effects on materials

• MS in nuclear engineering, Texas A&M University
• BS in nuclear engineering, Texas A&M University

2025

• Mao Z., Y. Li, R.O. Montgomery, A. Grandjean, H. zur Loye, and S. Hu. 2025. "A Finite Difference informed Random Walker (FDiRW) solver for strongly inhomogeneous diffusion problems." Computational Materials Science 246, no. _:Art. No. 113474. PNNL-SA-203260. doi:10.1016/j.commatsci.2024.113474

2024

• Mao Z., X. Zhang, Y. Li, V. Proust, A. Gossard, T. David, and R.O. Montgomery, et al. 2024. "Phase field-volumetric lattice Boltzmann model of ion uptake in porous nuclear waste form materials under continuous flow." Journal of Nuclear Materials 596. PNNL-SA-192472. doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155103
• Montgomery R.O., C.A. Hutchinson, N.A. Conway, M.S. Good, R.E. Jacob, I.J. van Rooyen, and W. Chuirazzi, et al. 2024. Results of Post-Process NDE Using Advanced Techniques on AM Parts. PNNL-36747. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Results of Post-Process NDE Using Advanced Techniques on AM Parts
• van Rooyen I.J., J.F. Fitzpatrick, N.P. Barrett, C. Mason, S. Meher, D. Yoon, and R.O. Montgomery, et al. 2024. Benchmark Study Matrix for Microreactor Geometries Relevant to Multiple Developers. PNNL-36686. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Benchmark Study Matrix for Microreactor Geometries Relevant to Multiple Developers
• Whalen S.A., N.R. Overman, B.S. Taysom, B.K. Milligan, M. Tillman, D. Bishop, and P.A. Renner, et al. 2024. "Fabrication of Bismuth-Telluride Thermoelectric Wires by Friction Extrusion." Materials & Design 248, no. _:Art. No. 113527. PNNL-SA-202839. doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2024.113527

2023

• Montgomery R.O., J.J. Gillespie, M.S. Good, and I. van Rooyen. 2023. Comparison of Elastic Moduli of LPBF 316H Material Using RUS Measurements and Destructive Mechanical Testing: M3CT-23PN1305091. PNNL-34599. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Comparison of Elastic Moduli of LPBF 316H Material Using RUS Measurements and Destructive Mechanical Testing: M3CT-23PN1305091

2022

• Li Y., S. Hu, F.W. Hilty, R.O. Montgomery, K. Park, C.R. Martin, and N. Shustova, et al. 2022. "Leaching Model of Radionuclides in Metal-Organic Framework Particles." Computational Materials Science 201. PNNL-SA-163765. doi:10.1016/j.commatsci.2021.110886
• Li Y., S. Hu, R.O. Montgomery, A. Grandjean, T.M. Besmann, and H. zur Loye. 2022. "Effect of Charge and Anisotropic Diffusivity on Ion Exchange Kinetics in Nuclear Waste Form Materials." Journal of Nuclear Materials 572. PNNL-SA-177634. doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.154077

2020

• Glass S.W., M.S. Good, E.L. Forsi, and R.O. Montgomery. 2020. "Progress Toward Molten Salt Reactor Heat Exchanger On-Line Monitoring." Transactions of the American Nuclear Society 122, no. 1:155-157. PNNL-SA-153505. doi:10.13182/T122-32590

2017

• Montgomery R.O., C. Tome, W. Liu, A. Alankar, G. Subramanian, and C. Stanek. 2017. "Use of Multiscale Zirconium Alloy Deformation Models in Nuclear Fuel Behavior Analysis." Journal of Computational Physics 328. PNNL-SA-107715. doi:10.1016/j.jcp.2016.09.051

2016

• Montgomery R.O., W.D. Bennett, C.H. Henager, C.A. Lavender, M.T. Smith, and R.P. Omberg. 2016. "An Innovative Accident Tolerant LWR Fuel Rod Design Based on Uranium-Molybdenum Metal Alloy." In Top Fuel 2016: LWR Fuels with Enhanced Safety and Performance, September 11-15, 2016, Boise, Idaho, Top Fuel 2016, 1375-1387. La Grange Park, Illinois:American Nuclear Society. PNNL-SA-118356.

2014

• Capps N.A., R.O. Montgomery, D.J. Sunderland, B. Spencer, M. Pytel, and B.D. Wirth. 2014. "Evaluation of Missing Pellet Surface Geometry on Cladding Stress Distribution and Magnitude." In Water Reactor Fuel Performance Meeting/Top Fuel/LWR Fuel Performance Meeting (WRFPM 2014), September 14-17, 2014, Sendai, Japan, Paper No. 100109. Tokyo:Atomic Energy Society of Japan. PNNL-SA-104246.
• Daw J., B. Tittmann, B. Reinhardt, G.E. Kohse, P. Ramuhalli, R.O. Montgomery, and H. Chien, et al. 2014. "Irradiation Testing of Ultrasonic Transducers." IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 61, no. 4:2279-2284. PNNL-SA-107399. doi:10.1109/TNS.2014.2335613
• Jiang W., J.A. Sundararajan, T. Varga, M.E. Bowden, Y. Qiang, J.S. McCloy, and C.H. Henager, et al. 2014. "In-situ Study of Nanostructure and Electrical Resistance of Nanocluster Films Irradiated with Ion Beams." Advanced Functional Materials 24, no. 39:6210-6218. PNNL-SA-100694. doi:10.1002/adfm.201400553
• Montgomery R.O., N.A. Capps, D.J. Sunderland, W. Liu, J. Hales, C. Stanek, and B.D. Wirth. 2014. "Advanced Pellet-Cladding Interaction Modeling using the US DOE CASL Fuel Performance Code: Peregrine." Transactions of the American Nuclear Society 110. PNNL-SA-101222.
• Terrani K.A., D. Wang, L.J. Ott, and R.O. Montgomery. 2014. "The effect of fuel thermal conductivity on the behavior of LWR cores during loss-of-coolant accidents." Journal of Nuclear Materials 448, no. 1-3:512-519. PNNL-SA-96985. doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2013.09.051

2013

• Daw J., B. Tittmann, B. Reinhardt, G.E. Kohse, P. Ramuhalli, R.O. Montgomery, and H. Chien, et al. 2013. "Irradiation Testing of Ultrasonic Transducers." In 2013 3rd International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation, Measurement Methods and Their Applications, June 23-27, 2013, Marseille, France, 1-7. Piscatway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-96135. doi:10.1109/ANIMMA.2013.6728097
• Hu S.Y., Y. Li, J.S. McCloy, R.O. Montgomery, and C.H. Henager. 2013. "Magnetic Hardening from the Suppression of Domain Walls by Nonmagnetic Particles." IEEE Magnetics Letters 4. PNNL-SA-89968. doi:10.1109/LMAG.2013.2245861
• Li Y., S.Y. Hu, R.O. Montgomery, F. Gao, and X. Sun. 2013. "Phase-field simulations of intragranular fission gas bubble evolution in UO2 under post-irradiation thermal annealing." Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 303. PNNL-SA-90991. doi:10.1016/j.nimb.2012.11.028

2012

• Meyer R.M., P. Ramuhalli, M.B. Toloczko, L.J. Bond, and R.O. Montgomery. 2012. "Assessment of NDE Technologies for Detection and Characterization of Stress Corrosion Cracking in LWRs." In 3rd International Conference on NPP Life Management (PLIM) for Long Term Operations (LTO), May 14-18, 2012, Salt Lake City, Utah, Paper No. IAEA-CN--194-066A. Vienna:International Atomic Energy Agency. PNNL-SA-87826.