Nuclear Science and Energy Center of Economic Excellence

Inception:
2008

About the CoEE:

This CoEE will focus on the design, development, and analysis of advanced materials that will be required to extend the life of existing nuclear power reactors and to develop a new generation of more efficient reactors.

No nuclear reactors have come on line in the United States in more than a decade, but as a new group of plants is being planned nationwide, USC is poised to be a major academic leader in this area, especially as many nuclear engineering academic programs throughout the country have been terminated. According to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Energy, the number of independent nuclear engineering programs has fallen by about 50% since the mid-1980s.

South Carolina is already a national leader in nuclear power, generating 56% of its electricity via nuclear reactors. Within a 120-mile radius of Columbia, 11 large commercial nuclear power plants provide more than 10% of the nation's nuclear-generated energy. At the same time, USC has a strong presence in the clean energy/alternative fuels arena. This CoEE will help make South Carolina a force in finding solutions to the United State's current reliance on energy production that results in pollution and other negative effects on the environment.

In conjunction with the USC Nuclear Engineering program, this CoEE will have
access to industrial partners including Duke Energy, Progress Energy, SCANA,
Westinghouse, and the URS Nuclear Center. As proposed, the CoEE has three
initial projects: (a) Coupled Design Codes and Thermal Hydraulic Test Data; (b)
Advanced Materials and Processes for Study, Fabrication and Joining of Materials;
and (c) Power Plant Maintenance and Monitoring. Research around these projects
has the potential not only for aiding the nuclear energy industry but also for
affecting the aircraft, gas turbine, coal, and natural gas power plant industries.

Funding level:
$3 million

CoEE endowed chair:

Dr. Travis Knight, co-principal investigator of both USC Nuclear CoEEs, works on a fluidized bed chemical vapor deposition coater to produce coated particle fuels for high temperature gas-cooled reactor applications.