Alfred University has selected nuclear power expert and ACerS leader John Marra give the Inamori School of Engineering’s 2010 John F. McMahon annual lecture. Marra will speak at 11:20 a.m., Nov. 4 in Holmes Auditorium, Harder Hall, on AU’s campus on the topic of “Advanced Ceramic Materials for Next-Generation Nuclear Applications.”
Marra, an ACerS Fellow and former president, is the associate laboratory director for strategic initiative development at Savannah River National Laboratory.
In the abstract for his lecture, Marra says:
“The nuclear industry is in the eye of a ‘perfect storm’,” Marra explains in the abstract of his talk. “Fuel oil and natural gas prices near record highs; worldwide energy demands increasing at an alarming rate; and increased concerns about greenhouse gas emissions have caused many to look negatively at long-term use of fossil fuels. This convergence of factors has led to a growing interest in revitalization of the nuclear power industry within the United States and across the globe.
“Ceramic materials have long play a very important part in the commercial nuclear industry with applications throughout the entire fuel cycle, from fuel fabrication to waste stabilization. As the international community begins to look at the next-generation nuclear technologies and advanced fuel cycles that minimize waste and increase proliferation resistance, ceramic materials will play an even larger role.”
Marra says his presentation at the McMahon Lecture will focus on the critical role ceramic materials play throughout the nuclear fuel cycle, and what critical advancements in materials will be needed.
We previously featured Marra in a video shot earlier this year, “A new paradigm for nuclear waste management” and as part of a “New energy opportunities for materials science and engineering” panel at MS&T’09.