Faculty Development Grant for Advanced Thermal-Hydraulics and Computational Fluid Dynamics

Nuclear energy is a clean, safe, reliable and cost effective source of electricity, which should be increasingly relied upon to fulfill the country's energy needs, while reducing greenhouse emissions1. The ability to extract the heat from the core in an economical and safe manner is essential to the continued operation of nuclear power. In particular, the analysis of thermal hydraulics phenomena (fluid flow, heat transfer) and its influence on mechanical behavior of the fuel assembly, as well as on reactor physics through thermal neutronic feedback, can be increasingly studied with advanced codes. In particular multiphase computational fluid dynamics allows studying such phenomena with increasing accuracy, to reduce margins, and increase safety and efficiency of nuclear power operations.

This proposal seeks start-up funds for a new, tenure-track faculty member in the newly formed Department of Nuclear Engineering with expertise in the field of Advanced Thermalhydraulics. The candidate has accepted an offer to join Penn State next year as a tenure track associate professor of nuclear engineering. The proposal is timely to fulfill the country's current research needs and well suited to the existing capabilities at Penn State which will help and complement the new faculty member's research and professional development. The support from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), partially matched by Penn State, will provide the funds to assist the new faculty member in having a productive career at Penn State by helping fund his access to the high performance computing facilities he needs.