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K-State Today

August 24, 2016

Doctoral candidate receives national fuel cycle research award

Submitted by Rachel McAdam

Michael Reichenberger, a nuclear engineering doctoral student at Kansas State University, has been awarded a second-place prize in the Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fuel Cycle Technologies.

Reichenberger's award is in the open competition in the Advanced Fuels category. His award-winning research paper, "Advances in the Development and Testing of Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors (MPFDs)," was presented at the IAEA International Conference on Research Reactors in November 2015.

In order to be successful and retain its leadership role in nuclear technologies, the U.S. must foster creativity and breakthrough achievements to develop tomorrow's nuclear technologies. The Department of Energy has long recognized that university students are an important source of breakthrough solutions and a key component in meeting its long-term goals. The Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards program was developed for this purpose.

The program is designed to award graduate and undergraduate students for innovative fuel-cycle-relevant research publications, demonstrate the Department of Energy's commitment to higher education in fuel-cycle-relevant disciplines, and support communications among students and Department of Energy representatives.

The program awarded 17 prizes in 2016 for student publications relevant to the nuclear fuel cycle. In addition to cash awards, award-winning students will have a variety of other opportunities.