The goal of this proposal is to establish a collaborative research program between the university of iowa (UI), pacific northwest national laboratory (pnnl), and LOS alamos national laboratory…

This Cooperative Agreement award, funded by the Department of Homeland Security's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office under the National Nuclear Forensics Expertise Development Program (CFDA 97.130), establishes a collaborative research program between the University of Iowa, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. The $300,000 award, spanning September 2024 to September 2027, supports graduate students to gain expertise in nuclear and radiochemical sciences under the direct mentorship of university and national laboratory investigators. The research will focus on understanding how contaminants, free radicals, and decomposition products within actinide oxides or oxalates can generate distinct spectroscopic signatures that provide insights into material provenance, age, and enrichment level. This program aims to expand the recruiting pool available to the national laboratory system while advancing the University of Iowa's efforts to build a nationally recognized nuclear and radiochemistry program.

The goal of this proposal is to establish a collaborative research program between the university of iowa (UI), pacific northwest national laboratory (pnnl), and LOS alamos national laboratory (lanl) and to create a forum within which graduate students gain expertise in nuclear and radiochemical sciences under the direct mentorship of university and national laboratory investigators. This prospect is significant and will expand the recruiting pool available to the national laboratory system while also strategically advancing efforts at UI to build a nationally recognized nuclear and radiochemistry program. This proposal supports the expertise development mission of the ntnfc by establishing a collaborative partnership between UI, pnnl, and lanl focused on a shared scope of research that includes the preparation and spectroscopic characterization of actinide oxides and oxalates (e.g., UO2, PU2(C2O4)3, PU(C2O4)2), and their precursor materials. The supported graduate students will lead the scientific undertakings and receive training in nuclear material handling to develop nationally needed skillsets in processing science, spectroscopic characterization, and forensics signature discovery. Specifically, research will focus on understanding how contaminants, free radicals, and decomposition products within actinide oxides or oxalates can generate distinct spectroscopic signatures that provide new insights into material provenance, age, and enrichment level.