University of New Mexico hosts nuclear camp for high school students

Willis

Participants lived in campus dorms for the week and learned about nuclear engineering by engaging in supervised, hands-on experiments with the UNM nuclear reactor, radioactive materials, particle accelerators, and plasma devices.

An inaugural success: The camp, held July 20 through July 26, was led by Carl Willis, professor of practice and chief reactor supervisor in the UNM Department of Nuclear Engineering. In an interview with Nuclear Newswire, Willis described the experience as “fantastic.” Campers and their parents both had positive feedback about the experience, and plans are in the works for next year’s camp—though the timing and format may be adjusted.

Newswire: What was the purpose of the camp?

Willis: Experience Nuclear Engineering 2025 was designed as an intense, hands-on, free-to-attend residential nuclear engineering experience for 20 high school students in which the participants would be able to operate the AGN-201M nuclear reactor (in a subcritical state, accompanied by licensed staff), perform various radiation detection experiments and plasma physics experiments, and participate in local tours. The idea motivating the residential plan was to help build up a “community of practice” in the next generation of nuclear engineers, getting them to see each other as fellow people with aligned interests.

Newswire: How many high school students participated?

Willis: Nineteen students participated. Six were from New Mexico, and the remainder were from out of state, all over the United States.

Newswire: What activities were available for the students?

Two campers remove the activated LYSO scintillation crystal from the UNM nuclear reactor. (Photo: University of New Mexico)

Willis: They performed four new subcritical reactor experiments involving neutron activation, making lutetium-177 and Lu-176m in a scintillation crystal and measuring their decay, rod-drop rod worth measurements, and two approach-to-critical experiments.

They measured the decay of barium-137m using the provided scintillation detectors, the gamma radiation detector response function of the provided scintillation detector, the attenuation coefficient for various materials at various gamma radiation energies, and the geometric attenuation function for various sources.

The students also performed high-resolution gamma spectrometry on a variety of environmental and medical isotope samples, and they measured the pressure-dependent electrical properties of a neon plasma. They took their own X-ray photos using a hand-cranked generator and vacuum tube.

Campers measure the decay radiation from photonuclear activation in the UNM Cancer Center’s new 15MV linear accelerator. (Photo: University of New Mexico)

There were tours of Kairos Power Albuquerque and the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center radiation oncology facilities. The students collected radioactive pieces of a lost nuclear weapon from the Mark-17 hydrogen bomb that accidentally fell out of an airplane in May 1957. And they listened to faculty talks most days after lunch.

The participants played with cloud chambers that were provided by ANS, played various games, visited the Sandia Crest at sunset, and presented their favorite moments of the camp in a slide show at the closing buffet.

Newswire: What faculty members participated in the camp, and what did they do?

Willis: I designed the bulk of the experimental program and worked with a U.S. manufacturer of scintillation detectors to come up with a custom instrument that would serve the needs of the camp and that each participant could take home.

Eric Lang, an assistant professor of nuclear engineering here at UNM, supervised the plasma physics experiment station. William Brown, a licensed reactor operator at UNM, helped supervise activities involving the reactor. From the UNM Health Sciences Center, safety specialist Mat Eden and associate professor of radiology and radiation safety officer Chris Helstern supervised some activities and were indispensable during program design. UNM professors Chris Perfetti, Osman Anderoglu, and Stephen LaMont (who also works at Los Alamos National Laboratory) provided lectures to the group. Matthew Denman of Kairos Power provided a tour of his facility (and helped render first aid during an anaphylaxis incident nearby). Patricia Sansourekidou, director of health physics at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center, provided a fantastic tour of the radiation oncology facilities there.

Newswire: Is there anything else you would like to say about the camp?

Willis: I am grateful and humbled to get to work with these passionate participants. They kept me on my toes, their enthusiasm is infectious, and I look forward to continuing the relationship as they become university students or working nuclear engineers (or whatever else they plan to do) in their later careers.