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Launching into tomorrow: NRIC guides new era of research and deployment
In June 2025, the Department of Energy announced the Reactor Pilot Program, an authorization pathway that allowed reactor developers to partner with the DOE to get first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors built and tested. Soon after, the DOE rolled out a complementary Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aimed to fast-track fuel projects. In all, 20 projects were accepted into the new programs.
Gordon L. Brownell, Brian W. Murray
Nuclear Technology | Volume 27 | Number 1 | September 1975 | Pages 60-66
Technical Paper | Education | doi.org/10.13182/NT75-A15937
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Nuclear engineering has much to offer nuclear medicine, diagnostic radiology, and radiation therapy, since advances in these medical specialities require complex applications of radiation. In return, these specialties offer rewarding and stimulating careers to nuclear engineers and physicists. Nuclear engineering students are aptly qualified for research training in these areas because of their knowledge of nuclear physical principles, their engineering experience, and their desire to apply their training to socially constructive activities. Training programs should include the training of technologist’s and bachelor’s degree candidates as well as research personnel at the MS and PhD level. Although the full scope of such a program is yet to be realized at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), several courses and seminars devoted to biomedical applications of radiation within the Department of Nuclear Engineering and a number of interdepartmental programs support the training in biomedical physics and engineering. The research training of students within these fields is challenging and complex since a working collaboration with clinicians and scientists needs to be established while still preserving an individual research program for the student. At MIT, a number of research projects involving the medical use of neutrons and radioisotopes help provide the facilities and support for thesis programs for several students. These projects include 10B neutron-capture therapy in the treatment of brain tumors, in vivo and in vitro neutron activation analysis to study metabolic bone diseases in man and animals, external localization of deep vein clots in man using radioiodinated fibrinogen, improved techniques for radiation synovectomy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and the development of ultra-short-lived radioisotopes for nuclear medicine. Based on the experience at MIT, nuclear engineering can play a vital role in training research personnel for nuclear medicine, diagnostic radiology, and radiation therapy. Any individual nuclear engineer wishing to engage in the training of students for such fields should establish a close rapport with research scientists and clinicians within a medical institution and be familiar with the medical resources available for such training.