Nuclear Regulatory Commission Scholarship for Undergraduate Summer Research
There is an opportunity for Nuclear Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, or Chemistry sophomores and juniors to come to the University of California, Irvine (UCI) this summer and conduct research related to nuclear applications with a $10,000 summer stipend. The summer research program will begin on June 20 and last until August 12, 2016.
Deadline: May 1, 2016 for priority review, applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis for space available after that date.
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Postdoctoral Researcher in Low-Energy Experimental Nuclear Physics at LLNL
The Nuclear and Particle Physics Group at LLNL has an opening for a postdoctoral researcher to play a major role in extending the surrogate nuclear reaction technique to isotopes further than 1-2 nucleons from stability by performing experiments in "inverse kinematics".
To apply for this position, or for additional information, please go to posting #100905 at: https://careers.llnl.gov/. Any questions regarding the position should be directed to Nicholas Scielzo at scielzo1@llnl.gov or 925-422-4172. We are looking to fill this position as soon as possible. Review of applications will begin on May 9th and will continue until the position is filled.
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National Nuclear Security Administration Graduate Fellowship Program
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Graduate Fellowship Program (NGFP) is a career launchpad for exceptional graduate-level students committed to the nuclear security mission. Fellows are placed in year-long, salaried (plus benefits) positions at NNSA locations nationwide. Working alongside NNSA experts and leading researchers, Fellows receive specialized training, career development, and professional networking while directly supporting NNSA's critical nuclear security missions in positions that span the technical and policy realm.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens eligible for a high-level security clearance and be accepted into, enrolled in, or graduating from a master's or Ph.D. program during the year of application. A combined policy and technical background is highly desirable. Knowledge of a foreign language is a plus. Students with backgrounds in safety and health, infrastructure and operations management, or finance/accounting are also encouraged to apply.
Applications for fellowships beginning in June 2017 are accepted from March 1, 2016 through the deadline of October 3, 2016.
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Competition Begins to Replace Major Federal Contract
Daniel Snyder, Bloomberg Government
When it released draft solicitation documents last month, the federal government took another big step in recompeting one of its single biggest contracts ever - the $47.2 billion deal with Lockheed Martin Corp. to run the Sandia National Laboratories. The contract has been in place for more than 20 years.
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The Way Back to the US-Russia Negotiating Table
Lawrence J. Korb, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
April 21, 2016
Since coming into office, President Obama has made reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the United States and the world a high priority. In fact, in his April 2009 speech in Prague, he pledged to seek a world without nuclear weapons. His initial efforts produced an arms control agreement with Russia in 2010. Since then, however, his efforts to control the world's most dangerous weapons have not just stalled; Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, appear ready to embark on a Cold War-style nuclear arms race.
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Don't Count on a North Korean Nuclear Deal
Denny Roy, The National Interest
The persistent North Korea nuclear weapons crisis is generating heightened fear among the countries targeted by Pyongyang for hostile signaling, including the United States.
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LOOKING BACK AT CHERNOBYL
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Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Preparedness for a "Next One"
Sonja Schmid, Augustin and Manpreet Sethi, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Over a single April day in 1986, a little-known place called Chernobyl became infamous. Twenty-five years later, a similar fate befell Japan's Fukushima Prefecture. In the end, the Fukushima disaster was better contained than Chernobyl, but if an emergency hits another nuclear power facility, it may well do so in an unanticipated way. Are nations adequately prepared for an unpredictable "next one?"
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Chernobyl, Three Decades On
University of South Carolina
The Chernobyl disaster struck 30 years ago today. The devastating radiation spill created a huge radio-ecological laboratory where scientists have been studying the effects of radiation on free-living organisms since 2000. In addition to cataloging a range of harmful effects that even low doses of radiation have on life, the scientists recently published a meta-analysis examining how a specific pathway, oxidative stress, is a key component of the damage.
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Forget Fukushima-Chernobyl Still Holds Record as Worst Nuclear Accident for Public Health
Timothy J. Jorgensen, The Conversation, Phys Org
The 1986 Chernobyl and 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accidents both share the notorious distinction of attaining the highest accident rating on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)scale of nuclear accidents. No other reactor incident has ever received this Level 7 "major accident" designation in the history of nuclear power. Chernobyl and Fukushima earned it because both involved core meltdowns that released significant amounts of radioactivity to their surroundings.
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2016 Nuclear Security Summit Progress Report: Building and Sustaining an Effective Global System
Samantha Pitts-Kiefer, Nuclear Threat Initiative
Over the last 6 years, the Nuclear Security Summits have brought the attention of world leaders to the nuclear terrorist threat. With the Summit process now ended, the Nuclear Threat Initiative has prepared a progress report looking at actions taken at the final Summit toward building a comprehensive and effective global nuclear security system and where gaps remain.
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ARMS CONTROL AND DETERRENCE
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Spent Fuel Damage: Pool Critically Accident
Dave Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists
Disaster by Design/Safety by Intent #26 described a progression leading to overheating and damage to a reactor core, often labeled a meltdown. Disaster by Design/Safety by Intent #27 described the damage to a reactor core that can result from reactivity excursions. Disaster by Design/Safety by Intent #28 and #29 mirror those commentaries by describing how irradiated fuel stored in spent fuel pools can experience damage from overheating and reactivity excursions.
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Rise in Armenians Arrested for Nuclear-Materials Smuggling Is Worrisome
Armine Sahakyan, The World Post
Arrests of Armenians who have crossed into neighboring Georgia to try to sell nuclear materials have increased the past two years, with the latest coming just two weeks ago.
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The Advantage of Being the Weaker, Nuclear-Armed State
Michael Krepon, Arms Control Wonk
Doyens of nuclear deterrence strategy during the first nuclear age were convinced that size mattered. The nuclear-armed state with a bigger arsenal, or greater missile throw-weight, or sharper missile accuracy, or more tactical nuclear weapons, or [fill in the blank] would be better off in leveraging outcomes, before and after the balloon went up. In the second nuclear age, it's striking how this presumption of leveraging has been turned on its head.
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