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No registration necessary. All are invited to attend this co-sponsored event on nuclear power in Texas between the KBH Energy Center, OLLI, and UT's Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program on September 15, 2025 from 1:00-3:30PM in the LBJ Auditorium in Sid Richardson Hall on campus.

The Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program at The University of Texas at Austin proudly hosted two hands-on professional development workshops for high school STEM teachers. Held on July 17 and July 24 at the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab (NETL) on the Pickle Research Campus, these sessions brought together educators from across Austin and surrounding areas to deepen their understanding of nuclear science and radiation technologies. 

Led by Dr. Sheldon Landsberger, Robert B. Trull Chair in Engineering, and Dr. William Charlton, Director, Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory and 
Professor, the workshops featured interactive lectures, lab demonstrations, and guided tours of the NETL reactor facility. Teachers participated in small-group reactor tours, gaining firsthand insight into nuclear instrumentation and safety protocols, and explored ways to bring nuclear science into their classrooms. Specific experiences included:  

• Tours of UT Austin’s 1.1MW TRIGA reactor 

• Iodine Extraction Lab 

• Radiation Detector Lab 

• Shielding Lab 

• Radiochemistry overview 

• Presentations on neutron radiography, nuclear medicine, TX nuclear policy and workforce development, and a history of nuclear science and engineering 

These workshops were made possible through generous support from Department of Energy University (DOE) Reactor Sharing and Outreach, reflecting a shared commitment to strengthening STEM education and inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers. 

Looking ahead, the Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program aims to expand this initiative by developing a recurring summer series, offering curriculum resources, and building a statewide network of nuclear science educators.  

Graduate student Nick Kaitschuck makes a poster presentation of research work done with Dr. Landsberger on the optimization of rare-earth elements characterization at the Modern Trends in Activation Analysis conference in Budapest, Hungary May 6-10. Nick also gave an oral presentation on the use of Compton suppression in preparation of cellulose reference materials. 

Justine Davidson who received her PhD in spring 2024 has been given a Citation to accompany the Award of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. Justine is an employee of Los Alamos National Laboratory and spent several in Washington DC was recognized for exceptional public service as Senior Scientific Advisor to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, from April 2021-April 2024.

For the first time, new Assistant Professor Dr. Elena Zannoni  taught the M E 397 Radiological Imaging and Instrumentation course in the 2024 spring semester in the Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program. The course gives an overview of modern imaging techniques and instrumentation in three segments:  physical and mathematical foundations, transmission imaging and emission imaging.

Christopher Martin wins second place at the State of Texas Chapter of the Health Physics Society meeting on April 20, 2024, at Texas A&M in College Station. Christopher’s presentation was Rapid, High Accuracy and Precision Analysis of Uranium Content in Texas Ore using self-attenuation gamma-ray spectroscopy. This work is sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Nuclear Material Support Services (NPI-9).

Dr. Landsberger gave a series of five invited lectures in the Department of Physics at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia during the week of April 15, 2024. The series was entitled Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Science and Nuclear Engineering. Lecture topics included neutron activation analysis, pop-culture goes nuclear, radioactivity in the oil exploration sector, low-level gamma ray counting, development of experiments in health physics to reinforce basic radiation protection concepts, and coincidence and anti-coincidence gamma ray spectroscopy in radionuclide identification. The Department of Physics has very advanced techniques in coincidence gamma-ray spectroscopy. Further educational and research collaboration was discussed.

The Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program and Nuclear and Applied Robotics Group supported four of the ten projects for the Freshman Introduction to Research Engineering Course ME 177K.  This course is designed to introduce research skills to first year students in their first or second semesters. Second and third prizes of $300 and $200 were awarded to Robotics and Compton Camera: Autonomous Radiation Detection and Robotic Additive Manufacturing, respectively.

As part of UT Energy Week, the first ever Texas Nuclear Symposium organized by Derek Haas and Kevin Clarno was held from March 25-26. Presentations on the Nuclear and Radiation Engineering’s Molten Salt Reactor and Digital Twin Reactors were given by faculty and staff members. Graduate students had the opportunities to make presentation of their work on the above topics. Reed Clay President of the Texas Nuclear Alliance gave an overview of the inclusion of nuclear energy in the electricity production in Texas. In the main UT Energy Week conference there were presentations by Sunil Felix from Nuclear Counsellor, French Atomic Commission – US Embassy (Washington, DC), Jimmy Glotfelty Commissioner, Public Utility Commission of Texas and Dale Klein Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin and Former Commissioner of Nuclear Regulatory Commission joined a panel to discuss "A Nuclear Carol: The Future of Nuclear via the Past & Present Perspectives of France, U.S., and Texas”

The invitation to serve on national and international review panels is significant to our program in terms of exposure to our faculty’s individual areas of expertise. In Fall 2023, Sheldon Landsberger served on the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Engineering University Program (NEUP) General Scientific Infrastructure Review Panel, as Chair of the European Partnership for Research in Radiation Protection and Detection of Ionizing Radiation including nuclear medicine, review panel and was invited to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Consultancy Meeting for the Disposal of Irradiated Graphite Waste from nuclear power plants.