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The Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) is a multidisciplinary organization at Texas A&M University. It focuses on graduate education, research, and service related to the safeguarding of nuclear materials and the reduction of nuclear threats. We work in collaboration with US national laboratories, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and other partners to address the problems associated with the malicious use of nuclear materials and to study policy issues related to nuclear security.

NSSPI combines the talent of internationally recognized researchers from the US’s largest nuclear engineering department with renowned policy expertise from Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service. This team brings unique capabilities to bear on complex nuclear threats and proliferation challenges involving both policy and technology.

NSSPI employs science, engineering, and policy expertise to:

• Conduct research and development to help detect, prevent, and reverse nuclear and radiological proliferation and guard against nuclear terrorism

• Educate the next generation of nuclear security leaders

• Analyze the relationship between policy and technology in the fi eld of nuclear security

• Serve as a public resource for knowledge and skills to reduce nuclear threats

Preparing the Next Generation

NSSPI was the fi rst organization to address a growing need for graduate-level technical education focused on nuclear safeguards and nuclear nonproliferation. This problem has long been identifi ed in the nuclear community as one of the critical challenges facing the world today. In response, NSSPI faculty and staff have developed at Texas A&M the most robust technical nonproliferation and safeguards education program in the US.

A Multidisciplinary Approach

Effective solutions to complex nuclear proliferation problems are often multidisciplinary. NSSPI’s organizational structure enables us to seamlessly matrix in the expertise and research talent we need from across the Texas A&M campus.

Research Staff

• Science• Engineering• Policy

Associate Directors

• Education• Research• International Programs• Bush School Liaison

Graduate Students

Undergraduate Students

Postdoctoral Associates

Interns

Cross-Campus Expertise & Facilities

• Nonproliferation• Nuclear Forensics• 21st Century Deterrence• Fuel Cycle• Radiation Transport• Detector Development• Engineering• Political Science & Public Policy• Research Reactors

• Particle Accelerators• Materials Science• Life Sciences• Emergency Management• Risk Assessment• Computer Science• Physical Sciences & Mathematics

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Distance Education NSSPI develops and conducts distance education courses for Texas A&M masters students. Basic courses on safeguards concepts are also available to the public through our web portal.

Informingthe Public

Special areas of our website provide interested parties convenient access to relevant news and research on global nuclear issues.

Workshops NSSPI hosts and organizes domestic and international workshops on global nuclear security topics.

Research Faculty and students in NSSPI conduct innovative research on all aspects of safeguards, security, and nonproliferation.

Hands-on SafeguardsEducation NSSPI regularly brings students to national laboratories to gain direct, practical experience with safeguards technology.

Students Through the classroom and one-on-one interaction with faculty, NSSPI introduces both graduate and undergraduate students to the science and policy concerns in safeguards, security, and nonproliferation.

Faculty/Scientist ExchangeNSSPI hosts faculty from other organizations at Texas A&M and provides instructors to other universities to give courses on nuclear security topics.

International Collaborations

NSSPI maintains close ties with international colleagues to share information and promote joint research efforts.

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44ResearchResearch and development is a key component in the fi ght against proliferation and nuclear terrorism. NSSPI conducts collaborative research with partners across the Texas A&M campus, throughout the US, and internationally. Collaborators include key federal agencies, national laboratories, the IAEA, universities, and non-governmental organizations.

NSSPI has a strong focus on multi-disciplinary research. We organize carefully-sized research teams with students and faculty from across campus to develop targeted solutions for a wide variety of nuclear security problems. Each of these teams typically includes at least one policy expert.

NSSPI Research Areas:

Proliferation Risk Analysis

Safeguard Systems & Instrument Development

Combating Nuclear Terrorism

Nuclear Forensics & Attribution

Arms Control

Ensuring the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy

Nuclear

Industrial & Systems

Chemical

Electrical & Computer

Computer Science & EngineeringMechanical

International Affairs

Public Service & Administration

Statistics

MathematicsChemistry

Political Science

Entomology

Animal Science

Engineering Liberal Arts A

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NSSPI

Physics

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Braden Goddard, “Quantitative NDA Measurements of Advanced Reprocessing Product Materials Containing U, Np, Pu, and Am” (2013)

Matt Grypp, “An Analysis of a Spreader Bar Crane Mounted Gamma-Ray Radiation Detection System” (2013)Matt Sternat, “Development of Technical Nuclear Forensics for Spent Research Reactor Fuel” (2012)Chris Myers, “Quantitative Methodology for Assessing State Level Nuclear Security Measures” (2012)Nandan Chandregowda, “Assessment of the Fingerprinting Method for Verifi cation of Spent Fuel in MACSTOR KN-400

CANDU Spent Fuel Dry Storage” (2012)Curtis Conchewski, “Physical Security System Sensitivity to DBT Perturbations” (2012)Alison Goodsell, “Flat Quartz-Crystal X-Ray Spectrometer for Nuclear Forensics Applications” (2012)Adrienne Lafl eur, “Development of Self-Interrogation Neutron Resonance Densitometry (SINRD) to Measure the Fissile

Content in Nuclear Fuel” (2011)Ernest Travis Gitau, “Development and Evaluation of a Safeguards System Concept for a Pebble-fueled High Temperature

Gas-cooled Reactor” (2011)Christopher Ryan, “Determining the Impact of Concrete Roadways on Gamma Ray Background Readings for Radiation

Portal Monitoring Systems” (2011)Grant Hundley, “Bayesian Network Analysis of Radiological Dispersal Device Acquisitions” (2010)Alyssa Stafford, “Spent Nuclear Fuel Self-Induced XRF to Predict Pu to U Content” (2010)Jessica Feener, “Safeguards for Uranium Extraction (UREX) +1A Process” (2010)Richard Metcalf, “New Tool for Proliferation Resistance Evaluation Applied to Uranium and Thorium Fueled Fast Reactor Fuel

Cycles” (2009)James Miller, “Analytical Inverse Model for Post-Event Attribution of Plutonium” (2009)Angela Thornton, “Portable Neutron Coincidence Counter for Field Measurements … ” (2008)Taraknath Woddi, “Fuel Cycle Assessment of India: A Technical Study for Nuclear Cooperation” (2007)Kristin Chesson, “Nuclear Archaeology of Graphite Moderated Reactor Systems to Determine Historical Plutonium

Production” (2007)

Selected Theses and Dissertations

• Became the fi rst university research team to mount and record radiation data from a crane used in port operations (see photo, facing page top)

• Designed the Self-Interrogation Neutron Resonance Densitometry (SINRD) detector for nuclear safeguards measurements with Los Alamos National Laboratory for testing by the IAEA (see photo, facing page bottom right)

• Developed the SHIELD framework to interdict HEU at borders

• Made the fi rst quantitative measurement of Pu in used nuclear fuel with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (see photo of ORNL hot cell, top left)

• Developed the PRAETOR tool and a latency method for proliferation risk analysis

• Devised a safeguards system concept for pebble-fueled high temperature gas-cooled reactors

• Developed a new technique for analyzing Pu K x-rays for nuclear forensics applications using a bent-crystal spectrometer (see photo, right)

NSSPI is at the forefront of innovative research on all aspects of nuclear safeguards, security, and nonproliferation.

Research Accomplishments

• Performed proliferation resistance / safeguards analysis of the Fast Breeder Reactor fuel cycle

• Developed a portable gamma radiation portal monitor specifi cally designed for the scanning of livestock

• Devised a methodology for determining which states will go nuclear

• Performed innovative N-terrorism pathways analysis to boost the effi cacy of defense

• Produced 41 master’s theses and 13 doctoral dissertations through NSSPI-funded research projects (selected list shown, below)

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NSSPI is changing the model for educating safeguards and security experts through the programs it has implemented at Texas A&M. These programs include:

• an accredited Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering with specialization in nuclear nonproliferation;

• the nation’s fi rst technical academic certifi cate in nuclear forensics; and

• an 8-week summer nuclear security certifi cate program.

Our successful academic programs are enhanced by a heavy practical component, which includes hands-on laboratory experience through short courses at national laboratories, visiting nuclear installations in other countries to discuss applied safeguards, summer internships at various national laboratories, and tabletop exercises involving both the political and technical aspects of global nuclear security. NSSPI is also embracing

new instructional technologies like virtual classrooms and distance education.

While traditional academic programs are the backbone of NSSPI’s educational efforts, we also pursue educational projects designed to reach non-traditional students outside of Texas A&M, including:

• summer courses taught by NSSPI faculty at national laboratories;

• asynchronous online courses accessible via the Nuclear Safeguards Education Portal; and

• synchronous distance education courses.

NSSPI delivers safeguards education:

• in the classsroom

• in the lab

• in workshops

• in short courses

• on the web

• through international programs

Education

NSSPI provides its students with unique opportunities for hands-on safeguards education and professional development.

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NUEN 605 – Radiation Detection and Nuclear Materials Measurement

NUEN 650 – Nuclear Nonproliferation and Arms Control

NUEN 630 – Monte Carlo Methods for Particle Transport

NUEN 651 – Nuclear Fuel Cycles and Nuclear Material Safeguards

NUEN 656 – Critical Analysis of Nuclear Security Data

NUEN 451 – Nuclear Security Systems Design

CHEM 681 – Radiochemistry and Nuclear Forensics

MATH 664 – Inverse Problems in Nuclear Forensics

Nonproliferation Courses Offered at Texas A&M University

NSEP Nuclear Safeguards Education PortalModules include:

• Basic Nuclear and Atomic Physics

• The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

• Basic Radiation Detection

• Introduction to Statistics

• Containment & Surveillance

• Nuclear Material Accountancy

• Physical Protection Systems

• Threats to Nuclear Security

Every year, approximately 15,000 unique users from around the world access NSEP to follow our online courses on nuclear security. This level of outreach would have been impossible in a more traditional, classroom-based approach.

http://nsspi.tamu.edu/nsep/

Summer Certifi cate in Nuclear Security

GTRI Nuclear Security Education Program

Sponsored by the Partnership for Nuclear Security, this eight week intensive course is designed to produce nuclear professionals who will lead efforts to reduce the security risks associated with nuclear and radiological materials while ensuring the peaceful use of nuclear energy is available to all.

The course is intended to raise the awareness of nuclear security as a key requirement for all nuclear and radiological systems and instill a culture of nuclear security in nuclear professionals working in industry, research facilities, government, or academia.

Through this program students participate in tours of nuclear and radiological facilities, attend executive seminars, work with small teams on security focused simulations, and earn academic credit by completing three university courses.

http://nsspi.tamu.edu/nscap

Through support from the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, NSSPI faculty are collaborating with faculty from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Pennsylvania State University to develop courses that study both policy and technical challenges in nuclear security. A set of fi ve courses were developed and are currently being taught:

• Threat Analysis and Assessment

• Applications of Detectors/Sensors/Sources for Radiation Detection and Measurements

• Global Nuclear Security Policies

• Design and Analysis of Security Systems for Nuclear and Radiological Facilities

The materials are being shared among the universities to encourage self-sustaining programs in nuclear security.

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NSSPI partners with countries and organizations around the world to help develop safeguards capabilities and a robust security culture.

International Programs

We have agreements in place with Mangalore University (MU) and the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) in India that provide a formal basis for collaboration with these institutions in education and research. A similar agreement is being drafted with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK).

Two MU students have graduated from our nonproliferation M.S. program and have since returned to work in India. Students and faculty from the Department of Nuclear Energy at PDPU have visited NSSPI for summer courses in nuclear security, and one of these students has returned to participate in our M.S. program. We have also hosted an intern from PDPU who completed a research project at NSSPI as part of his M.Tech. program requirements.

In 2013, two recent NSSPI Ph.D. graduates presented a series of lectures on nuclear security at PDPU and IITK, and NSSPI graduate students held research internships at IITK and the Center for Study of Science, Technology, and Policy in Bangalore.

Activities with Indian Universities

NSSPI has provided educational support to universities in the following countries:

China, Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United Kingdom (UK), and Viet Nam

NSSPI has formal agreements in place with the following international institutions:

Khalifa University (UAE), Mangalore University (India), Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (India), and Tomsk Polytechnic University (Russia)

NSSPI has also collaborated with the following international organizations:

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), European Safeguards Research & Development Association (ESARDA), the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE-Norway), and the Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation & Nuclear Security (ISCN-Japan).

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The Nuclear Facilities Experience in JapanIn April of 2013, NSSPI led the Nuclear Facilities Experience (NFE) in Japan with cooperation from the Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security of the Japan Atomic Energy Authority. During this week-long tour, students and professors from Texas A&M, the Tomsk Polytechnic University of Russia, and the Vietnamese National University’s Hanoi University of Science visited various nuclear-relevant sites around Japan in an effort to understand fuel cycle facility operations and applied safeguards measures.

The NFE is the latest in a series of similar student facilities experiences conducted by NSSPI. Past tours included visits to facilities in France, the US, and Belgium (2006); Switzerland (2007); and the UK (2010) by students from the US and Russia.

The NFE is as a unique opportunity for university students to visit nuclear fuel cycle facilities in a foreign country and discuss applied safeguards and security measures with actual practitioners and facility operators.

In May of 2013, the Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute (GNEII) concluded its third year with a graduation ceremony and two-day symposium on nuclear safety, security, and safeguards at the Abu Dhabi campus of Khalifa University. The 20 fellows who participated in the program in 2013 came from across the Gulf Cooperation Council states, specifi cally from the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. They represented the largest graduating class for GNEII since its inception.

GNEII was established in 2011 as a Khalifa University institute. It houses an education program that offers both classroom instruction and hands-on experience in topics related to nuclear energy safety, security, safeguards, and nonproliferation. GNEII strives to promote a nuclear energy security and safety culture in countries in the region that are considering implementing

GNEII’s mission is to develop a responsible nuclear energy culture and institutionalize key safety, security, safeguards and nonproliferation norms in the future decision-makers of the Gulf region nuclear energy programs.

The Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute

The 2013 GNEII symposium was opened by Ambassador Michael H. Corbin, the US Ambassador to the UAE

nuclear energy programs. The start up of GNEII was sponsored by offi ces of the US Department of Energy and State. Over the past three years, NSSPI has worked with Sandia National Laboratories to develop the curriculum and supply the instructors for the classroom modules.

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Department of Nuclear Engineering Facilities

AGN-201M Research ReactorThe Fuel Cycle and Materials Laboratory The Ion Beam LaboratoryMulti-Node Linux Cluster

Texas A&M System Facilities

Nuclear Science Center TRIGA ReactorThe Cyclotron InstituteDisaster CityParallel Computing Resources

Facilities

Created by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, Disaster City is the world’s largest search-and-rescue training facility.

NSSPI Laboratories

Nuclear Forensics and Radiochemistry LaboratoryFeatures: glove box and fume hood for handling radioactive materials; NaI and HPGe detectors for gamma-radiation spectrometry; PIPS detectors for alpha-radiation spectrometry; electrochemical setup for radioactive material sample preparation; centrifuges to separate organic and aqueous phases; vortex mixer to mix different chemical phases; heating mantle for chemical dissolution of uranium dioxide; and bench scale setup for PUREX chemical process

Nuclear Security and Emergency Response LaboratoryFeatures: mechanically-cooled HPGes; radiation isotope identifi cation devices; emergency response radiation detection equipment; neutron coincidence detection capability; vehicle-mountable scalable gamma detection array; comprehensive surveillance system apparatus (camera, IR, motion); and HPGe system for determining U and Pu sample enrichment

Radiation Detection and Measurements LaboratoryFeatures: NIM-bins to operate Geiger-Mueller tubes, gas-fl ow proportional counters, alpha-spectrometers, gamma detectors, and neutron detectors; digital electronic-based systems to study gamma spectroscopy, coincident radiation, neutron detection, and neutron multiplicity; HPGe workstations, hand-held radiation identifi cation systems, and He-3 and BF-3 tubes for neutron detection; mechanically and liquid nitrogen cooled HPGe detection systems; lead vaults for low background measurements; portable systems calibrated for In-Situ Counting Systems; high resolution LaBr scintillation detectors; portal monitors; and surveillance and monitoring systems

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Texas A&M UniversityNSSPI supports graduate education at Texas A&M University by mentoring students and providing them with relevant research experience in the nuclear security sciences.

Texas A&M was established in 1876 as the fi rst public institution of higher education in Texas and is one of the state’s fl agship universities. It was also the fi rst university in the US to receive land, sea, and space grant designations. Texas A&M has over 2,400 faculty, 10,000 graduate and professional students, and more than 40,000 undergraduate students on a spacious campus.

Texas A&M ranks in the top 20 among US universities for total research expenditures ($700 million plus in FY11). The Washington Monthly, which includes research, community service, and social mobility among its evaluation criteria, ranks Texas A&M as second among US universities.

Furthermore, Texas A&M boasts the nation’s largest nuclear engineering department with knowledgeable faculty members spanning a large spectrum of expertise. In 2008, the department was identifi ed by the IAEA as one of only two US programs listed in their “world’s best colleges” for nuclear engineering education.

List of NSSPI Sponsors The US Department of Energy

The US Department of Homeland Security

The US Department of State

The US Department of Education

The US Department of Defense

The US Department of Agriculture

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The US National Science Foundation

US National Laboratories

Non-Governmental Organizations: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Industry: Zel Technologies and Luminant, Inc.

NSSPI is able to draw from the vast resources of a fi rst-class research university and the largest nuclear engineering department in the US.

Images, from left to right: detectors from NSSPI’s Radiation Detection and Measurements Laboratory; glovebox in NSSPI’s Nuclear Forensics & Radiochemistry Laboratory; subcritical assembly with natural uranium; the AGN-201M Research Reactor; and the pool of the Texas A&M Nuclear Science Center’s 1 MW TRIGA reactor.

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Contact: Dr. William Charlton, DirectorDr. David Boyle, Deputy Director

336 Zachry Engineering Center Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-3473Phone: 979.845.7092Fax: 979.845.7497nsspi@tamu.edu

nsspi.tamu.edu

NSSPI is a joint center of Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, an engineering research agency of the State of Texas and a member of The Texas A&M University System.

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