Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Annual Report Annual Report 2016 | Page 10

NES The NES Thrust Area’s focus is research and education for advancement of nuclear engineering science and its application in power, security, medicine and policy. Members of NES are primarily engaged in development of computational methodologies for design and analysis of nuclear systems, establishment of experimental capabilities for understanding basic phenomenon and benchmarking of computational tools, and the study and analysis of public policy in nuclear science. The current activities of NES includes areas such as: nuclear materials and fuel modeling and chemistry; advanced particle transport methods and codes development for real-time simulation of nuclear systems with specific application in reactor physics, reactor shielding, radiation detection design, and medical imaging; reactor thermal-hydraulics fundamentals and reactor safety analysis; and development of advanced reactor fuel cycles and designs for addressing safety, security, sustainability, and policy. Nuclear Engineering and Science Professor Alireza Haghighat NES Coordinator In addition to the Mechanical Engineering faculty, the NES team works with faculty members and researchers from other departments and centers such as Advanced Computing Research and Visual Computing, Materials Science and Engineering, Physics, Science and Technologies in Society, and the School of Public and International Affairs. The members have significant research collaborations with universities, government organizations, and private industry, both nationally and internationally. Without a doubt, NES faculty is poised to contribute to advancement of safe, secure and sustainable nuclear power, design of systems for nuclear materials monitoring and detection, design of radiation diagnosis and therapy, and science-based analysis for formulation of nuclear policy. RESEARCH APPLICATIONS Medical Imaging | Nuclear Nonproliferation and Policy | Nuclear Surety and Safeguards | Reactor Design AREAS OF RESEARCH AND STUDY Nuclear Materials and Fuel | Particle Transport Methods | Radiation Detection | Reactor Physics | Reactor Safety and ThermalHydraulics | Reactor Shielding