At Missouri University of Science and Technology, where the
state's first nuclear reactor was constructed more than 50 years ago, researchers
are tracking and measuring the movement of radioisotopes to develop
sophisticated new standards for the next generation of reactors.
Led by Dr. Muthanna Al-Dahhan, chair and professor of
chemical and biochemical engineering and professor of nuclear engineering,
Missouri S&T is developing new approaches to understanding how nuclear fuel
pebbles would behave in what are called "fourth generation"
pebble-bed nuclear reactors. These reactors would house uranium fuel in spheres
the size of tennis balls (the "pebbles") rather than rods, and the
cores would cooled by helium gas instead of water. These reactors also are
considered to be more efficient than water-cooled reactors and would operate at
much higher temperatures.