2/23/2009 Colloquium - Ed Morse
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Ed MorseUniveristy of California at Berkeley |
Event Info
Title: The Domestic Nuclear Threat Security (DoNuTS) Project
Date: Feb 23, 2009
Location: 3105 Etcheverry Hall
Time: 4-5pm
Abstract
The DoNuTS project is a five-year, multidisciplinary program which started in 2007 on the Berkeley campus. The objectives of this program are to provide scientific research and trained personnel to assist in the development of a system for detecting and tracking nuclear material which might be involved in acts of terrorism. The program consists of four track areas covering rapidly changing components of the worldwide effort in nuclear material detection: (1) Advanced Materials for Radiation Detection, (2) Data Mining and Pattern Recognition for Detection Systems, (3) Nuclear Data, and (4) Signals and Networks for Detection Systems. Recent developments in research and facilities associated with this project will be highlighted, and future efforts will be described.
Speaker Biography
Prof. Morse teaches the department's three one-semester courses relating to nuclear fusion science and fusion reactor technology: NE 180, Introduction to Controlled Fusion, NE 280, Fusion Reactor Engineering, and NE 281, Fully Ionized Plasmas. These courses cover many aspects of the physics and technology of proposed fusion reactors as well as current experiments in nuclear fusion, of both the magnetic confinement and the inertial confinement approaches. Prof. Morse also teaches the laboratory course Nuclear Engineering 104B, Nuclear Engineering Laboratory, which includes experiments relevant to reactor thermal hydraulics and nuclear materials as well as nuclear fusion. Prof. Morse also teaches course EECS 100 in the Electrical Engineering Department, Electronic Circuits for Engineering. This course is the basic non-major course in electrical engineering in the College of Engineering.
One of Prof. Morse's research projects involves the study of the spheromak fusion confinement scheme as an approach to magnetically confined nuclear fusion. This study involves experimental plasma physics and theoretical studies of MHD behavior and nonlinear radiofrequency wave propagation. This effort also includes an experimental study of the effects of boron coatings on plasma-facing components. Another project involves the development of the Rotating Target Neutron Source (RTNS) as a tool for investigating radiation damage in fusion materials. A study of the radiation damage properties of nonlinear optical crystals for use in the National Ignition Facility laser fusion device at Livermore is currently underway.
