This will significantly reduce the long term hazards from a nuclear waste repository. The goal of this project is to assess, using state of the art reactor physics simulation methods, the characteristics of spent fuel for a variety of thorium and uranium fuel arrangements in the core of a nuclear power plant. The UROP student will prepare a comparison of fuel cycles already proposed in the literature as well as generated by the MIT group studying this fuel cycle. The UROP is to join Prof. Todreas and a graduate student who are working under DOE funding as part of a collaboration of international companies and universities to develop this reactor concept. Jacquelyn Yanch Body composition studies at MIT Laboratory for Accelerator Beam Applications.
Neutrons have many uses in the quantification of elements in the body.
Non-invasive, in vivo elemental analysis allows determination of human body composition which is indicative of nutritional status and health condition. Neutrons can be used via neutron inelastic scattering, prompt gamma neutron activation, and delayed neutron activation for the detection of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, aluminum, and many other elements. Knowledge of TBP makes it possible to evaluate nutritional status of patients with progressive disease or metabolic disorders. Body nitrogen measurements are used to monitor their changing status and to assess the nutritional requirements for treatments. Such disorders include cancer, protein malnutrition, renal failure, anorexia, cardiovascular disease, obesity, hyperthyroidism, liver and kidney disease, and growth deficiencies.