Dr. Robert Weldon
Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Advanced Nuclear Technology (NEN-2) Group
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Abstract

The National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) houses a wide variety of special nuclear material that is used to perform critical and subcritical experiments in support of national security priorities such as criticality safety, emergency response, safeguards, and nonproliferation. The facility is located inside the Device Assembly Facility (DAF) at the Nevada National Security Site. Work at NCERC is led by the Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Advanced Nuclear Technology (NEN-2) group from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Four unique critical machines are used for operations including: (1) Godiva IV, a highly enriched uranium (HEU) fast burst reactor; (2) Flattop, a fast HEU/Pu system reflected by a metric ton of natural uranium; (3) Planet, a vertical lift machine used for assembling unique critical and subcritical systems; and (4) Comet a second vertical lift machine designed to handle more mass than Planet. In this seminar we will discuss the history of critical experiments at LANL, the experimental capability housed at NCERC, and both recently completed and upcoming experiments led by NEN-2 at NCERC.

Biography

Dr. Robert Weldon obtained his BS in physics from Penn State University in 2013. As an undergraduate he interned with in the Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division (NEN-5) at Los Alamos National Laboratory and continued with the group in a post-baccalaureate position. He pursued a PhD in nuclear engineering at North Carolina State University under the guidance of Prof. John Mattingly and obtained his degree in 2020. Following the completion of his PhD, Robert accepted a postdoctoral position with the Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Advanced Nuclear Technology (NEN-2) group. In 2021 he was converted to a staff position in NEN-2 where his work focuses on developing detector diagnostics and measurement techniques for characterizing critical and subcritical systems.

Thursday, November 3. 2022
4:00 pm seminar

Hybrid Option  (Speaker is in person)

zoom (link upon request)
or
Room 1202 Burlington Labs