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Professor Richard Lester named as new NSE Department Head

Richard K. Lester

MIT News Office.  Professor Richard Lester has been named the next head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, effective Sept. 1, 2009, Dean of Engineering Subra Suresh announced this week.

Lester, who will succeed Professor Ian Hutchinson as department head, has been a member of the department's faculty since 1979. He received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Imperial College and his PhD in nuclear engineering from MIT.

"There is a critical need for education and research in nuclear science and engineering for many important applications, including energy, human health and safety, environmental sustainability, and national security," said Suresh, the Ford Professor of Engineering at MIT. "Richard has a proven record of broad multi-disciplinary interactions across the Institute, and I am pleased he has agreed to lead the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering as MIT enhances its prominent role in these areas." Read full story >>

NSE Alumni and Friends Reception -- ANS Meeting, Atlanta -- June 16 , 2009

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(L-r) Pavel Hezlar, Bobby Middleton, Joshua Whitman, Ian Hutchinson, Mike Pope, Tyler Ellis, and Peter Yarsky. More photos >>
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2009 Update of MIT study, "The Future of Nuclear Power

In 2003, The Future of Nuclear Power study by a group of MIT faculty was motivated by growing concern about global warming and the urgency of developing and deploying electricity generating technologies that do not emit CO2 or other greenhouse gases (GHG).  The study addressed the steps needed in the near term in order to enable nuclear power to be a viable marketplace option at a time and at a scale (100 to 300 GWe in the U.S. at mid-century and from 340 to1000 GWe globally) that could materially mitigate climate change risks.

In this Update, we review developments from 2003 to today with respect to the challenges facing nuclear power mentioned above (including economics).  A second purpose of this Update is to provide context for a new MIT study, currently underway, on The Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, which examines the pros and cons of alternative fuel cycle strategies and the technologies needed for them in order to outline the implications for near-term policies. 

While the intent to build new plants has been made public in several countries, there are only few firm commitments outside of Asia, in particular China, India, and Korea, to construction projects at this time. In sum, compared to 2003, the motivation to make more use of nuclear power is greater, and more rapid progress is needed to enable the option of nuclear power expansion to play a significant role in meeting the global warming challenge.

 

Related Reports from the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES)

UPDATE ON THE COST OF NUCLEAR POWER Yangbo Du and John E. Parsons

This paper updates the calculations in the MIT (2003) study, primarily by adding further data on more recent builds in Japan and Korea, and by a careful analysis of the forecasted costs on some recently proposed plants in the US.
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Download report PDF >>
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