Sarah Cole recently took first place in the Idaho National Laboratory Bright Future in Nuclear Scholarship. Sarah is a high school senior, and has spent the past nine months interning in the Advanced Materials Laboratory. For the Bright Future in Nuclear competition, students were instructed to consider and research a question related to nuclear science and prepare a presentation for a panel of INL judges. Sarah posed the question, “How can nuclear energy compete economically with energy sources that don’t have to pay for the waste they generate?” Based on the research she did, she suggested the industry should 1) reprocess its spent fuel, 2) open a permanent waste repository, and 3) develop advanced reactors and small modular reactors. INL judges were impressed by her research, and awarded her a $4000 scholarship. You can read more about her award on the INL website.
In the Advanced Materials Laboratory, Sarah has been studying the effects of humidity and temperature on aerosol jet-printed strain gauges. Printed strain gauges show promise for in-pile sensing of nuclear materials, which would give reactor operators real-time information about the condition of nuclear fuel. However, the sensors must be thoroughly tested before installation in a reactor environment. Sarah’s work is part of a collaborative study to validate and improve these printed sensors.
Sarah will continue her research in the AML through the summer. In the fall, she plans to study mechanical engineering at the University of Idaho.
