Undergraduate Fellows
Andrew Politz
My name is Andrew Politz. I recently finished my Bachelors of Science in Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. I am also an undergraduate fellow of the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium (NSSC).
During summer 2025, I interned at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) under the mentorship of Dr. Walid Metwally in the Nuclear Criticality Safety (NCS) Group. While at ORNL, I developed the simulation framework and analysis for coincidence counting experiments at the planned Oak Ridge Subcritical Assembly (ORSA). This facility contains configurable AGN-201M reactor plates and lucite reflector to train and educate the NSC community and students. My project started by developing a model of ORSA in MCNP and then reproducing Rossi-alpha coincidence measurements for both a randomly pulsed Cf-252 neutron source and deuterium-deuterium neutron generator. As a result of my research, we concluded that a DD neutron generator would be better for operation and measurement at the facility. I also demonstrated the differences between the source methods. I presented my work to the NCS Group, and I will be drafting my findings into an abstract to present to the American Nuclear Society (ANS).
My internship at ORNL has helped expand my understanding of the current research needs in reactor noise analysis. It has also helped me better focus on the topics I would like to pursue further research in; as well as areas where I would like to expand my experience working at a national laboratory.
I am grateful to the NSSC and the ORNL staff for making my internship possible and for providing me with the resources and opportunity to explore new areas of nuclear science. This opportunity has enabled me to learn about the many pathways to continue my research in the next steps of my career. My ORNL experience has been invaluable. I would strongly encourage anyone to conduct research at ORNL.
Paige Anderson
My name is Paige Anderson. I am a first-year PhD student at the University of Florida. I completed my Bachelors in Computer Science in May 2025 at the University of Florida. I joined the Optical Science and Nonproliferation Lab under Dr. Kyle Hartig during the third year of my undergraduate studies. I am continuing to support the lab under the Consortium for Nuclear Forensics (CNF) as a PhD student.
My interdisciplinary background in computer science and nuclear engineering has motivated me to pursue computational approaches to advance nuclear security research. During my undergraduate work, I contributed to projects applying machine learning and data fusion techniques to detect plutonium surrogate contamination from optical emission spectra with high accuracy. As I continue my graduate studies, I look forward to further developing computational methods to support nuclear security science.
During summer 2025, I interned at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) under the mentorship of Dr. Katherine Royston and Dr. Gregory Davidson in the Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Division. This internship allowed me to work on a rotor dynamics simulation project. Specifically, I worked on integrating a Sandia automatic differentiation package into a hydrodynamic bearing solver, which improved the accuracy of the simulation. This experience strengthened my skills in C++ software development, linear algebra, and computational science. It also has allowed me to learn how to better evaluate and contribute to complex engineering simulations. I am now returning to the University of Florida with greater confidence in my capabilities as a researcher, and with a stronger understanding of interdisciplinary nuclear research projects.
I am incredibly grateful for my experiences at ORNL and for the guidance and support I received from mentors across the lab and the CNF. This internship enhanced my technical and professional skills while exposing me to critical collaborative research. I strongly recommend the internship program to other students.
Sofiia Asadchykh
My name is Sofiia Asadchykh. I am a senior at North Carolina State University (NCSU) majoring in Nuclear Engineering in the Accelerated Bachelor’s-Master’s program. I am affiliated with the Consortium for Nuclear Forensics (CNF) and with the ARTISANS research group at NCSU led by Dr. Xu Wu. I support Dr. Wu’s CNF project on improving uncertainty quantification of nuclear data for radiation transport applications.
During summer 2025, I interned with the Incident Modeling and Computational Sciences Group of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) under the direction of Dr. David Hooper and Bret Brickner. My assignment was to support development of the Visual Interactive Site Analysis Code (VISAC) software that has been created and maintained at ORNL. This software is mainly used to model nuclear facility accident scenarios, simulate blast effects, predict types of radiological releases and plant downtimes. One of my tasks was to conduct research to aid in adjusting the existing building models in the software to be more representative of reality. Perhaps the main result of my appointment has been the construction of simplified systems diagrams for almost all of the thermal-hydraulic subsystems of the VVER-1000 plant. I also developed event trees and the associated fault trees for the Loss of Offsite Power (LOOP) accident scenario. I was able to present my work during a research symposium that was held at ORNL on August 1, 2025. This experience was valuable for my practice of effective scientific communication and public engagement.
Overall, I am beyond satisfied with my appointment. It allowed me to not only apply the skills I have gained through my undergraduate Nuclear Engineering degree to a project with significant national nuclear security implications, but to grow immensely in a professional sense. As this internship was my first experience at a national lab, it was a unique opportunity to be surrounded by many accomplished R&D professionals, whether in the field of nuclear engineering or beyond. Through building connections with these professionals and researchers, I have a better understanding of the realities and directions of the nuclear science field as well as the advantages and meaningfulness of a research career. These things have contributed to me adjusting my goals and outlook of what I want my personal career to lead to. I would recommend an internship opportunity at ORNL for any student interested in developing proficiency with research and design practices, or a career at a national laboratory.
Owen Bloise
My name is Owen Bloise. I am a 1st year PhD student studying nuclear engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU). During my senior undergraduate year and the beginning of my graduate studies I have been an affiliate with the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium (NSSC).
My research involves mechanical testing of nuclear materials (primarily types of steel) and looking into the microstructure of the deformed material. Through mechanical testing, focused ion beam (FIB) machines, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the microstructure of deformed steels can be looked at with high precision. Recently I have been conducting tensile tests on precipitate hardened steel 17-7 at various temperatures ranging from room temperature to 500 degrees Celsius tests to gather the full stress strain curves at a wide range of temperatures. After performing several tests at specific points before fracture, the deformation mechanism in the microstructure can be observed in the interrupted test then these mechanisms can be related to the full uninterrupted tensile test results.
During the summer 2025, I had the privilege to work with Dr. Nedim Cinbiz at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to analyze data of different mechanical tests. Throughout the internship I learned about several mechanical testing methods to test cylindrical tubes of fuel cladding. I had the opportunity to analyze data from a couple of these testing methods including the axial tube tests (ATTs) and ring tensile tests (RTTs). When learning about these tests I wrote a small paper discussing the different test types and the complex issues that can come with these test methods.
I created a poster on the RTT method utilizing a portion of the RTT data I had analyzed. In the poster, the different testing parameters were explained and the effect of these parameters on the recorded mechanical properties was investigated. A couple of properties were found to have significant impacts on the parameters and the importance of standardizing these parameters was highlighted. Learning about these tests and constructing items discussing fuel cladding will allow me to research a wider variety of nuclear materials with experience in both structural steels for reactors and zirconium for fuel cladding.
I am extremely grateful to ORNL, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and the NSSC for making this entire internship appointment possible. The places I was able to see and the people I was able to talk to while at ORNL were informative and gave me access to resources I can use throughout my PhD research at NCSU. My experience at ORNL supports my goal to eventually work at a national lab. I would recommend an ORNL summer internship to any interested student.
Markus Tam
My name is Markus Tam. I am a recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Physics, B.S.) and an incoming graduate student at North Carolina State University (Physics, Ph.D.).
Over the summer of 2024, I interned in the ORNL Nuclear Nonproliferation Division in the Verification Technologies Group under Alex Enders. My research involved the investigation of a potential portable hybrid neutron-gamma radiation detector comprised of some combination of a sodium iodide scintillating detector with sheets of Gadolinium and polyethylene. While at ORNL, I was able to tour the SNS, HFIR, and MDF facilities to learn about the areas of cutting-edge research being advanced here, such as additive manufacturing, grid energy storage, and neutron-scattering-based materials testing. I was also able to hear from more senior staff members about their career paths and day-to-day work experiences.
Bernadette Brezinski - University of Tennessee (NSSC Fellow)
During the summer 2022, Bernadette interned in the ORNL Nuclear Nonproliferation Division working in the Signals Collection and Analysis Group under Dr. Heath Huckaby. During her internship, Bernadette was able to perform signal processing for nuclear non-proliferation applications. Her work included the development of python code and the development of interactive plotting programs to be able to plot different frequencies on a spectrogram. She was also able to attend a conference to network with vendors to learn more about emerging technologies within the nuclear community.