Recent News

Investigating materials for nuclear power

A longstanding interest in radiation’s effects on metals has drawn Michael Short into new areas such as nuclear security and microreactors.

Waging a two-pronged campaign against climate change

With a nuclear energy startup and cost-modeling tool, PhD student Robbie Stewart aims to speed construction of new plants for decarbonizing the economy

Why nuclear batteries offer a new approach to carbon-free energy

Jacopo Buongiorno and others say factory-built microreactors trucked to usage sites could be a safe, efficient option for decarbonizing electricity systems.

Professor Emeritus Sow-Hsin Chen, global expert in neutron science and devoted mentor, dies at 86

Novel contributions advanced dynamical properties of supercooled water and small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering over a 50-year career.

Infrared cameras and artificial intelligence provide insight into boiling

Matteo Bucci and colleagues train a neural network to predict a “boiling crisis,” with potential applications for cooling computer chips and nuclear reactors.

Mingda Li wins DoE Early Career Award

Mingda Li received a 2021 Early Career Research Award given by the DoE Basic Energy Sciences Program for his work in machine learning augmented multimodal neutron scattering for emergent topological materials.

Michael Short wins 2021 Teaching With Digital Technology Awards

Short, one of 23 winners of the 2021 Teaching With Digital Technology Awards, was nominated for excellence in digital teaching for both fully online classes as well as those which were a hybrid of online and in person.

Going to extremes

Whether testing high-field fusion magnets or his own physical endurance, Theo Mouratidis pushes the limits.

Congratulations NSE Graduates!

MIT’s virtual commencement ceremony is on June 4th. Twenty-four NSE students graduate this year.

Novel portable technology offers boost for nuclear security, arms control

Areg Danagoulian and MIT team devise compact, affordable system for identifying elemental composition of nuclear and other materials.

2021 NSE + ANS Annual Awards

The Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the student chapter of the American Nuclear Society hosted their annual awards event virtually on May 20, 2020.

Keeping humanity central to solving climate change

NSE’s Mike Short and a team of MIT scholars are helping to solve the economic, cultural, and political dimensions of the world’s energy and climate challenges.

Collaborators in climate action

NSE faculty, alums discussed benefits and challenges of MIT–industry research collaborations targeting technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a recent MIT symposium on climate action.

On course to create a fusion power plant

How an MIT engineering course became an incubator for fusion design innovations

Powering the energy transition with better storage

Researchers evaluate the role and value of long-duration energy storage technologies in securing a carbon-free electric grid.

Nuclear solutions for society — past and present

NSE’s Rose Lecture focuses on evolving role of nuclear technologies in meeting grand challenges, including the climate crisis

New approach for longer lasting, more powerful lithium batteries

Use of a novel electrolyte could allow advanced metal electrodes and higher voltages, boosting capacity and cycle life.

Third Edition of Nuclear Systems Volume I

The third edition introduces the principal characteristics of emerging technologies in advanced reactor designs using alternate liquid metal, gas, and molten salt coolant options, and expands chapters to include new analysis approaches and correlation methods.

A streamlined approach to determining thermal properties of crystalline solids and alloys

Machine learning techniques offer big advantages over standard experimental and theoretical approaches.

NSE’s Erica Salazar one of 20 selected WISDM fellowship

Women in Innovation and STEM Database at MIT has selected 20 women to take part in a Story Collider communications skills training. The program promotes the visibility of women in the MIT academic community, increases gender diversity in innovation and entrepreneurship, and makes it easier to find talented and diverse speakers for various events.

NSE’s Mike Short named 2021 MacVicar Faculty Fellow

Short joins an elite group of scholars from across the Institute who are committed to curricular innovation, scientific research, and improving the student experience through teaching, mentoring, and advising.

2021 Graduate Research Expo

The 2021 NSE Graduate Research Expo will be held virtually on March 19 from 11:00AM to 12:45PM, EST.

A nuclear battery-powered boost

New consortium led by Jacopo Buongiorno advances portable fleet of compact reactors as faster path to zero-carbon future.

Mr William D. Magwood IV to deliver 2021 Rose Lecture

Mr. William D. Magwood IV, Director-General of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), will deliver the 2021 David J. Rose Lecture on March 4, 2021.

New fiber optic temperature sensing approach to keep fusion power plants running

MIT’s Erica Salazar shows that faster detection of thermal shifts can prevent disruptive quench events in the HTS magnets used in tokamak fusion devices.

“Futurizing” undergraduate teaching

Associate Professor Michael Short's innovative approach can be seen in the two nuclear science and engineering courses he’s transformed.

Michael J. Driscoll, leader in nuclear engineering and beloved mentor, dies at 86

Emeritus professor’s contributions over a span of seven decades advanced nuclear waste disposal and fuel cycle development

NSE Nuclear Winter School Goes Virtual. January 12 & 13, 2021

The Nuclear Winter School is an opportunity for current undergraduate students to explore the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department and MIT.

Want cheaper nuclear energy? Turn the design process into a game

Koroush Shirvan, Ben Forget and other MIT researchers show that deep reinforcement learning can be used to design more efficient nuclear reactors.

NSE’s Lucio Milanese awarded 2022 Schwarzman Scholarship

Lucio Milanese anlong with three others from MIT will pursue master’s degrees in global affairs and leadership training at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

NSE alums on 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Energy and Science

NSE alums Katia Paramonova ’13 and Pablo Rodriguez-Fernandez PhD’19 have been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 lists for 2021.

A cool advance in thermoelectric conversion

A quantum effect in ‘topological semimetals’ demonstrated by MIT researchers could allow for the utilization of an untapped energy source.

Final Presentations: Two NSE Design Classes

NSE’s Ju Li elected as 2020 AAAS Fellow

Li is one of six MIT faculty members elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is among a group of 489 AAAS members elected by their peers in recognition of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science.

Study identifies reasons for soaring nuclear plant cost overruns in the U.S.

Analysis points to ways engineering strategies could be reimagined to minimize delays and other unanticipated expenses.

2020 Del Favero Thesis Prize

2020 Del Favero Thesis Prize has been awarded to Cong Su, PhD ’19.

Samuel McAlpine wins First Place prize in Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Awards

NSE graduate student Samuel McAlpine was awarded a First Place prize in the Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Awards sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Technology R&D. McAlpine’s award is in the Open Competition in the category of Advanced Reactor Systems.

Engineers design a heated face mask to filter and inactivate coronaviruses

The reusable mask would include a heated copper mesh that’s powered by a battery and surrounded by insulating neoprene.

Turning diamond into metal

Normally an insulator, diamond becomes a metallic conductor when subjected to large strain in a new theoretical model.

Superconductor technology for smaller, sooner fusion

MIT-CFS team’s demonstration of new superconducting cable is a key step on the high-field path to compact fusion

Shirvan, Fortum collaborate on techno-economic modelling tool

Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE) Koroush Shirvan will lead a collaborative 3-year project with Fortum to create an open source tool for techno-economic modelling of small modular reactor (SMR) projects.

Validating the physics behind SPARC

A series of 7 papers published as a special issue of the Journal of Plasma Physics provides a high level of confidence in the plasma physics and the performance predictions for SPARC. No unexpected impediments or surprises have shown up, and the remaining challenges appear to be manageable. This sets a solid basis for the device’s operation once constructed, according to Martin Greenwald, Deputy Director of MIT PSFC.

3Q: Fighting racism in the nuclear community

NSE alumna Aditi Verma along with agroup of nuclear scientists recently published a call for anti-racist action in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, urging researchers and their colleagues to confront a long legacy of racial disparities and injustices in the history of the nuclear field, many of which continue today.

Advancing the field of quantum thermodynamics

Study allows quantum systems to be modeled and predicted with more realistic results, enabling further development of technologies such as quantum computers and quantum heat engines.

2020 MIT A+B Applied Energy Symposium

The 2020 sessions covered topics including waste management, energy economics, and battery technology, and featured multiple NSE alumni and current faculty.

NSE UROP Summer Research Festival

Friday, August 28, 2020. 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST. Showcasing undergraduate research in the Department in three parallel Zoom sessions.

The tenured engineers of 2020

NSE’s Mike Short is one of eight faculty members granted tenure in five departments across the School of Engineering.

Novel gas-capture approach advances nuclear fuel management

NSE Prof Ju Li and multidisciplinary team use metal organic frameworks to extract radioactive krypton from fuel reprocessing gases.

Anne White appointed SoE Distinguished Professor of Engineering

This professorship was established to recognize outstanding contributions in education, research, and service. Professor White’s appointment recognizes her exceptional leadership, innovation, and accomplishments in education and research.

Radiation slows corrosion of some materials

Prof Mike Short and collaborators finds that in certain alloys, exposure to proton irradiation can extend the material’s lifetime, study finds.

Engineers design a device that operates like a brain synapse

MIT team has made strides toward a system, which uses physical, analog devices that can much more efficiently mimic the brain’s learning process, for neural network AI systems.

PODCAST: TIL about nuclear power

Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno talks with host Laur Hesse Fisher about how nuclear power works, why even some climate advocates don’t agree on using it, and what role it can play in our clean energy future.

A fix for foulants

Researchers devise a practical solution for preventing corrosive buildup in nuclear systems.

Newly observed phenomenon could lead to new quantum devices

Exotic states called Kohn anomalies could offer clues to why some materials have the electronic properties they do.

NSE’s Peter Brenton recognized for outstanding service by School of Engineering

School of Engineering’s Ellen Mandigo Award recognizes staff who have demonstrated, over an extended period of time, intelligence, skill, hard work, and dedication to the Institute.

Quantum leaps on the horizon

Quantum computing will likely be able to tackle the biggest data challenges, but the exact applications may depend on which systems prove most practical. “We’re still in the stage where we’re trying to pick the best technology,” says Paola Cappellaro.