With less than 30 operational research reactors in the US, the WSU Nuclear Science Center (NSC) reactor facility serves a critical need for reactor-produced radioisotopes utilized in fundamental and applied nuclear research. The continued safe operations of the reactor facility and reactor operations currently meet critical needs in support of training and applied science at the DOE, the Department of Defense, Idaho National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Guard Bureau, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and others.<br/><br/>In support of our mission, the NSC has adopted a user facility operational model to operate the facility research spaces, enabling all WSU faculty to utilize the facility for their nuclear-based research. Researchers can either perform experiments and gather data themselves, or collaborate with the Center’s experienced personnel to perform, gather, and process data in support of their projects. The user facility is outfitting laboratory spaces for actinide thermochemistry, structural characterization of complex systems, and the establishment of the Radiological Science Laboratory (RSL) – a collaboration between the NSC, WSU/PNNL Nuclear Science and Technology Institute (NSTI), WSU Chemistry, and WSU School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. The RSL will be home to a suite of instruments utilizing radiation scattering and absorption to probe solvation and material properties not otherwise achievable with other instruments or at other facilities on the Pullman campus.<br/><br/>Teaching and training students are a cornerstone to our Center’s mission. NSC offers a student nuclear reactor operator training program to currently enrolled full-time WSU undergraduate and graduate students to prepare them for the nuclear workforce. The operator training program pursues four objectives, namely to: 1) Teach students; 2) Serve as a student-led workforce for reactor operations; 3) Serve as a workforce pool for full-time staff positions as they become available at the facility, and 4) Provide students with real-world experiential training in nuclear science and radiochemistry as well as options for internships and colloquia presentations to further their careers in nuclear science.

Nuclear science projects and our user facility model at the Washington State University Nuclear Science Center

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.