April 10
@
12:00 PM
–
1:00 PM
Thursday, April 10
12:00 – 1:00pm
ERB 106
Remote Participation: Please contact office@ep.wisc.edu for the Zoom link.
Title: Short Pulses for Lasting Impacts: Using Laser Spectroscopy to Address Challenges in a Changing Nuclear Landscape
Abstract: The push towards carbon-free energy production has sparked the intent to increase global nuclear energy production. However, the success of these endeavors will partially rely on the development of diagnostic instrumentation compatible with the harsh environments associated with nuclear facilities. Numerous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using laser-based spectroscopy methods for instrumentation needs throughout the nuclear fuel cycle. This presentation describes a set of such experiments that use laser spectroscopy methods to characterize nuclear material, improve safeguards monitoring, and provide a path towards in-situ monitoring of advanced reactor systems. The first section of this talk details previous research that uses variations of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy to develop compact systems for rapid chemical analyses of enrichment plants and Gen IV reactors. The second section explores ideas for future research directions that include taking advantage of ultrafast laser technologies for beam manipulation and the generation of short-pulse duration x-rays.
Speaker: Londrea Garrett, University of Michigan
Bio: Londrea Garrett received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department. She completed her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Rochester, where she was a member of the Optical Materials Group at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. She is a recipient of the Nuclear Nonproliferation and International Safeguards and GEM Fellowships and has been a contributing author on seven peer-reviewed publications. Her research focuses on how laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and related optical spectroscopy techniques can be used for novel nuclear diagnostics, particularly for safeguards and advanced reactor applications. She was recently selected as a recipient of the Hoffman Postdoctoral Fellowship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
This seminar is presented by the Institute for Nuclear Energy Systems and the Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics Department.