UW-Madison engineers receive $3 million in DOE nuclear research awards

The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded $33.9 million through its Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) in 2025 to support university-led nuclear energy research and development projects, including a total of $3 million for three projects led by University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers. 

Charles Hirst, an assistant professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics (NEEP) received $1 million for a project that will improve performance predictions for next generation nuclear reactor components. The current understanding is limited in that it is based on the sequential testing of irradiated materials without mechanical load, followed by post-irradiated mechanical testing without irradiation flux. This project will study the comparative impact of sequential versus simultaneous irradiation and applied stress during in situ tensile and creep testing of nuclear reactor materials. Researchers from the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory are co-investigators on the project.

NEEP Associate Professor Juliana Pacheco Duarte received $1 million to generate high-fidelity experimental data and models to help evaluate safety margins in anticipation of design basis accidents in light water reactors. This work will generate a new database to assess the thermal-hydraulic, thermo-mechanical, and oxidation performance of fuel cladding concepts during reactivity-initiated accidents. NEEP and MS&E Professor Kumar Sridharan and Assistant Scientist WooHyun Jung are collaborators on the project, along with researchers from the University of New Mexico, Idaho National Laboratory, and General Electric.  

Allison Mahvi, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, received $1 million to understand and predict the conditions that lead to film dryout and the formation of corrosion products on nuclear fuel cladding, which can degrade performance, increase maintenance costs, and lead to fuel failures. UW-Madison scientist Tiago Moreira and Assistant Teaching Professor Arganthael Berson are collaborators on the projects as well as researchers from MIT, Westinghouse, and General Atomics. 

NEEP Assistant Professor Ben Lindley is co-PI on a project led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to develop a benchmark evaluation of data collected from the Fast Flux Test Facility, a sodium fast reactor that operated at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory from 1980-1992. The highly unique data will fill a major need to validate multiphysics coupling of thermal hydraulics and reactor physics, ultimately helping to enhance licensing certainty, improve modeling techniques, and advance the development of sodium fast reactors.  

NEEP and MS&E Professor Kumar Sridharan is a collaborator on a project led by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The project aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the radiation tolerance of NF616, a ferritic-martensitic (F-M) steel that has been considered for use as a structural material for nuclear reactors. The strength of the material has been shown to provide greater safety margins, design flexibility, and lower costs, but there is limited data showing how the material responds to neutron irradiation. To gain a better understanding of the materials’ radiation tolerance, samples of NF616 will be irradiated at various doses and compared to other F-M steels.

Charles Hirst is the Steven J. and Teresa M. Zinkle Nuclear Materials Assistant Professor in NEEP. Allison Mahvi is the Duane and Dorothy Bluemke Assistant Professor in mechanical engineering. Kumar Sridharan is Grainger Professor and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in the departments of nuclear engineering and engineering physics and materials science and engineering.