Shane Stimpson的核能之路
It’s not every day that a high school science experiment sparks a career in nuclear engineering. 但肖恩·斯廷普森上的不是普通的高中.
Stimpson attended the Lynchburg-based Central Virginia Governor’s School, a magnet school for juniors and seniors focused on science and technology. “I was able to do an experiment where we irradiated samples of the element tungsten,” he remembers. “We sent the samples off to the Breazeale Reactor at Pennsylvania State University. 这看起来很疯狂——我觉得现在也是. 在那里 are only a handful of high schools that send off samples like that.”
For Stimpson, nuclear engineering carried a certain mystique. “Neutrons are mysterious because you can’t see them directly, but they’re super powerful他说。. “因为中子和裂变, we’re able to extract a ton of power from a small amount of fuel, 特别是与其他能源相比.”
After securing his undergrad at Georgia Tech and master’s and Ph.D. 他在密歇根大学工作, 斯廷普森在橡树岭国家实验室找了份工作, 就在诺克斯维尔城外. 在那里, he spent six years focusing on computational method development for light-water nuclear reactors. “It was really rewarding to see impacts on the overall project, but I wanted to explore options that had a path to building a new reactor.”
Like a lot of people, Stimpson decided to make a career move during the COVID years. He’d previously interned with BWX Technologies in Lynchburg and was hearing good things about their Advanced Technologies (AT) division, such as its exciting progress in medical isotope production.
另外,他已经知道自己喜欢这里的文化. “在BWXT实习期间, I worked with a group of people focused on designing a small modular reactor他说。. “It seemed like they all appreciated that this was a cutting-edge project, and it was fun being a part of that team working with a shared goal.”
现在, as a technical integrator for nuclear 热 propulsion projects at AT, Stimpson analyzes reactor designs from multiple perspectives. “随着我们对这些反应堆设计的进展, 我们做核能, 热, 和力学分析,以确保我们有一个好的, 设计的多物理场表示,他解释道.
但是 is 核反应堆,没错? In a nutshell, it’s a technology used at nuclear power plants that generates 清洁能源. BWX技术公司以其与美国国防部的合作而闻名.S. government—providing safe and effective nuclear solutions for national security, 清洁能源, 环境恢复, 甚至还有核医学和太空探索.
“I like working for BWXT because of its breadth of projects,” says Stimpson. “All are trying to target something that will help advance society in some way.”
医用同位素部门, 例如, aids with diagnostic imaging and radiotherapeutic treatments. Or the defense-focused microreactor projects that could help provide energy to military outposts. “传统上, 这是通过柴油, 但是柴油有很多相关的风险,斯廷普森解释道. “It also requires a lot of loads to get to the outpost because they use such a large volume. With a nuclear reactor, you’re able to provide substantial amounts of energy with less risk.”
斯廷普森欣赏BWXT的影响力和文化. “整个公司, there’s a lot of pride in terms of making sure we’re meeting national targets and goals that are useful to the country他说。.
BWXT的家在林奇堡,这很方便, as the city carries the added bonus of being a great place to live—and raise a family. Shane and his wife of 12 years have a six-year-old daughter. “总有很多事情要做,”他说. “I play golf and disc golf in my free time and enjoy hiking in the area.”
It’s not unusual to find him at Peaks View Park’s disc golf course. “It’s mostly open, so I can throw it a little more wildly,” Stimpson laughs.
他补充说,在林奇堡,生活很轻松. “有很多人,但感觉不拥挤. 在那里’s a sense of calm, and even in general, traffic is good.”
Still, it’s easy to get to bigger cities, for fun or for work. As incoming vice chair for the American Nuclear Society’s reactor physics division, Stimpson expects he’ll be able to take advantage of the city’s close proximity to D.C. in the coming months for meetings with fellow society members from across the country.
通过他的工作, Stimpson is excited about the increased exposure of BWXT projects that he hopes will help improve the public’s perception of nuclear energy. 最近, Stimpson was included on the team to complete the final design of the nuclear reactor, 制造反应堆的硬件和燃料, 组装组件, and deliver the fueled reactor as a complete subsystem for integration into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (美国国防部高级研究计划局) Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, known as 德拉科. “It’s been a long time since we’ve built new nuclear plants in the U.S.他说。. “在那里’s a fear of the unknown, and there’s a belief that nuclear energy can be dangerous.”
But, he adds, “a lot of extremely useful things involve risk. As long as you maintain proper regulations and treat it with care, you can take advantage of the benefits while still maintaining safety.”
Not only is it a reliable source of energy—it’s not dependent on the weather and releases less radiation into the environment than any other major energy source—but nuclear is also a long-term solution. “We have several centuries’ worth of nuclear fuel that we can extract and use,” Stimpson says. “It has a much longer sustainability lifetime than other forms of energy.”
罗宾·萨顿·安德斯来自北卡罗来纳州格林斯博罗.C.英国作家,《十大正规赌博平台大全》杂志的总编辑 绿字通讯.