The UT Institute for Nuclear Security

Howard L. Hall

Panel on Bridging the Gap Between Technology and Policy in Education and Training

American Nuclear Society Summer Meeting June 27, 2012 – Chicago, IL, USA

Nuclear security covers broad areas

Nuclear Security… The totality of activities undertaken to ensure that:   The beneficial applications of nuclear/radiological

materials and devices are not diverted to illicit or malicious purposes.

  Arms control priorities can be achieved through support and development of technologies for declaratory policy verification. Nuclear weapons and related technology are appropriately controlled and monitored, and weapons-usable materials can be accounted for and secured.

  Advances are made toward meeting other goals and objectives (such as for nuclear weapons safety, threat interdiction, render safe, and forensics) that mitigate threats, increase proliferation resistance, and support deterrence.

  Consequences of radiological or nuclear incidents, including attacks, are mitigated or minimized.

Global challenges are daunting

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Commitment continues to grow

The central questions

  How do we assure that radiological material and/or nuclear technology is where it is supposed to be, being used for its intended purpose, and properly protected?

  How do we detect things outside the bounds of appropriate use?

  How do we effectively deal with bad events?   How do we objectively assess what we do

know and what we think we know?

Academia’s role in nuclear security   Academia is a critical

underpinning needed to sustain our abilities and meet the needs of the future

  An effective nuclear security framework requires: –  Scientific and technical

disciplines –  Medical and health sciences,

social sciences, humanities, and business

–  Policy, law, and diplomacy –  Civilian, military, intelligence,

and NGO engagement

UT established the Institute for Nuclear Security in 2012   The Institute for Nuclear

Security will promote collaboration to conduct multi-organizational, multidisciplinary work critical to national and global needs in nuclear security.

Objectives of the Institute

  Develop new educational/training programs to meet global needs in nuclear security

  Shape the avenues of diplomacy, law, and public policy for achieving global nuclear security objectives

  Foster interdisciplinary R&D for nuclear security applications

  Foster excellence in intelligence and operational capabilities for global nuclear security

  Solve real-world challenges in nuclear security

Partners in the INS

Affiliated UT faculty   Nuclear Engineering –  Howard Hall –  Lee Dodds –  Martin Grossbeck –  Jason Hayward –  Lawrence Heilbronn –  Ivan Maldonado –  Laurence Miller –  Belle Upadhyaya –  Brian Wirth –  Steve Skutnik (starts

8/1/2012)

  Physics and Astronomy –  Robert Grzywacz –  Yuri Kamyshkov –  Tom Hamblin

  Political Science –  Brandon Prins

  The Baker Center –  Carl Pierce –  Matt Murray

  Materials Science and Engineering –  Kurt Sickafus

Overview of the UT program

  Historical ties between UT and DOE/NNSA facilities in Tennessee

  UT-ORNL M&O relationship   UT nuclear security thrust began around

2008 in Nuclear Engineering –  Teaching, research, and service –  Internships and experiential opportunities –  Re-entry/career development education –  Leverage the Baker Center (Public Policy)

Teaching   Faculty expansion/

engagement   Graduate curriculum

development –  Nuclear Engineering –  Physics –  Political Science –  Chemistry

  UG curriculum development –  Political Science –  Nuclear Engineering –  Others

  Graduate certificate programs –  Nuclear Engineering –  Political Science

Growing nuclear security education

  Adjunct Faculty/Lecturers –  Dr. Brian Anderson –  Dr. Alan Icenhour –  Dr. Graham V. Walford –  Mr. Dyrk Greenhalgh

  New joint faculty agreement with Y-12 starting up

  New NE faculty hire (August 2012)

  Access to unique federal capabilities in the region –  ORNL •  Safeguards Lab •  HFIR •  Portal Monitor Lab

–  Y-12 •  SNM testbed •  Vulnerability Assessment

lab

The UTNE Nuclear Security Certificate in Nuclear Engineering   Established in 2009, currently part of our Master’s degree

track   Earned by taking 4 out of the following 6 courses:

•  NE 530 (Nuclear Security Science and Analysis) •  NE 404 (Nuclear Fuel Cycle) •  NE 433 (Health physics) or NE 470 (Nuclear Reactor Theory I) •  NE 550 (Radiation Measurements Laboratory) •  NE 532 (Advanced Topics in Nuclear Security Science and Analysis) •  Political Science 688 (Seminar on Arms, Arms Control, and Nuclear

Non-proliferation)

  Will be tweaked this year because of new courses available and UT credit policy issues

Internships and experiential learning   Actively engaging

students with ORNL and Y-12 research interests

  Coordinating UG, Summer, and GRA experiences

  Increased interaction between student groups and practitioners

  Actively pursuing extramural opportunities –  E.g., NGFP, NNIS, NFGF

fellowships –  Baker Fellows

Linkage with other major UT thrusts   Bredersen Center for

Interdisciplinary Graduate Research and Education (CIRE) –  Embraced nuclear

security faculty –  3 of 17 inaugural class

involved in nuclear security

–  Extraordinary leverage

  Baker Center   UT/Y-12 strategic

partnership   Top 25 Initiative

Service   Baker Center Global

Security Program -- Outreach –  Distinguished lecturers –  Topical public meetings

and panels –  Community engagement –  Preplanned spontaneity

for informal collaboration opportunities

  International engagement –  Spreading the “3S” culture

through academe –  Supporting “new entrant”

nations developing academic programs

  Outreach and engagement with the NGO community

Collaborations are increasing   Partnerships forged

with regional universities –  Joint proposals/projects –  UNC/NCSU/TISS

colloquia –  NCSU nuclear

engineering class on nuclear security

  Partnerships beyond ORNL and Y-12 too –  LANL –  ORAU –  SafeSkies –  Roane State and Pellissippi

State Technical CC’s –  FBI Knoxville –  Knox County Schools

Collaborations with ORNL and Y-12 are getting broader and deeper   ORNL –  New nuclear

forensics facility and related work

–  Numerous nonproliferation projects

–  Expanding joint faculty assignments and adjuncts

–  Physical security modeling and simulation class

  Y-12 –  Physical security for

threat reduction –  Nuclear materials

controls robustness vis-à-vis radiological materials

Selected highlights

  The Baker Center has embraced global security as one of its two principal thrusts

•  Nuclear security is the core theme right now

•  Expands our public outreach

•  Brings notable figures in for engagement

•  Serves as a trusted agent for building collaborations

Hands-on learning at ORNL and Y-12   Undergraduate and graduate radiation

measurements classes in the ORNL Safeguards Lab

  NE-530 Red/Blue exercise is table-topped at Y-12 National Security Complex

  Collaborative education and graduate research training with ORNL and Y-12 continues to grow

New Political Science Department MPPA “Global Security” track   INS, Political

Science, and the Baker Center are collaborating on this new academic degree program

  Available Fall 2012

New coursework   Spring 2012

–  Arms control treaties and negotiation (3 SCH, Political Sciecne) –  Physical Security for Nuclear Facilities (3 SCH, Nuclear Engineering) –  Nuclear Security and Non-proliferation (3SCH, NCSU Nuclear Engineering)

  Summer 2012 –  Radiochemistry (3 SCH, Chemistry)

  Fall 2012 –  Freshman Seminar on Global Zero – Challenges and Opportunities (1 SCH, UT

Honors Program)   Spring 2013

–  Vulnerability Assessment and Modeling (3SCH, Nuclear Engineering)   In planning phases

–  Principals of Export Control for Nuclear Technology –  Human Reliability Issues in Nuclear Systems –  Nuclear Forensics –  Principals of Nuclear Emergency Response and Recovery

Next steps for the INS

  Continue strategy of building our indigenous capabilities while fostering strong partnerships across the community of interest –  We need to engage TVA and others in commercial nuclear

  Continue to build our academic programs   Address facilities needs as resources permit   Strengthen our international portfolio and student

opportunities   Increase efforts on developing collaborative projects

both nationally and internationally