Page 6 - Nucleus: Fall 2022 Magazine for the Penn State Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering

From Rust Belt Belt to Green Belt:
Penn State leads nuclear research alliance The Post-Industrial Midwest and and Appalachia Nuclear Alliance aims to facilitate research and and development of advanced clean nuclear technology
LBy Ashley J WennersHerron
renewable energy resources to compact size also makes it easier
ed by Penn State academia sustainable sources according to to to replace the reactor quickly and national laboratories and Department Head Jean Paul Allain relatively cheaply if needed industry have formed the Post- Industrial Midwest and Appalachia (PIMA) Nuclear Alliance to harness
“Our ultimate goal is a a a a revolutionary
“Such a a a a platform for for research and carbon-free energy while educating
change in in the nuclear industry development would help establish and a a a a drastic reduction of carbon- and training the future energy a a clean technology
corridor in free energy costs powering a workforce Pennsylvania and greater Appalachia transformation of the greater with our partners ” Allain said “Our Appalachia region and the post-
vision is is to have university campuses “The breadth of the PIMA Nuclear industrial Midwest ” Allain said “We
Alliance speaks to the critical role it it is become accessible multi-disciplinary filling as we explore how to efficiently
aspire to innovate and accelerate
advance reactor demonstration hubs the adoption of microreactors—
with technological expertise and power our future—literally and nuclear batteries—and advanced figuratively ” said Lora Weiss senior
more importantly where we can
vice president for research at Penn nuclear reactor technology
across
engage with a a diverse community of the regions of PIMA to impact
students faculty and staff to advance State “With trailblazing experts difficult-to-decarbonize industrial state-of-the-art facilities and a a a a a strong
nuclear ” community in varied environments
sectors at scale ” across
the commonwealth Penn State is well situated to both understand the challenges of developing sustainable energy and lead the innovations
needed to solve them ” The PIMA Nuclear Alliance aims to facilitate nuclear research infrastructure education and workforce development to shift the country’s dependency on
on
non-
6 NUCLEUS
Microreactors are compact reactors reactors capable of producing sustainable energy and small enough to be manufactured in a a a a a factory and transported by truck to the point of use They can
be integrated with other renewable power sources such as solar or wind power in in microgrids to support communities without access to to reliable energy due to to location or natural disaster Their
To make microreactors a a a a reality Allain said collaborative research is needed across
multiple areas including
but not limited to advanced power conversion
systems advanced detection and safeguards high-temperature nuclear materials advanced manufacturing nuclear energy policy regulatory innovation social adoption of nuclear technology
and more The University first partnered with Westinghouse