Prof. Andrew C Kadak

Research Affiliate

Primary DLC

Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering

MIT Room: 24-202

Areas of Interest and Expertise

Energy Policy
Advanced Nuclear Energy Plants
Management Effectiveness
Political Solutions to Technical Problems
Technical Solutions to Political Problems
Regulatory Effectiveness
Reactor Physics
Reactor Engineering
Safety Analysis
Economics
Waste Disposal
Non-Proliferation

Research Summary

Advanced Nuclear Energy Plants -- The future of nuclear energy depends upon deploying new advanced reactor plant designs that are competitive while at the same time are safe using melt-free cores, do not contribute to proliferation, and produce waste forms that are directly disposable. Currently, research is being conducted on a modular high temperature gas cooled pebble bed reactor. Students and faculty are engaged in research on core neutronics design, thermal hydraulics, fuel performance, economics, non-proliferation, and waste disposal. The objective of this research is to develop a conceptual design of a 110 Mwe pebble bed nuclear plant which could be used as a demonstration of its practicality and competitiveness with natural gas. Should the concept be successful, the design and construction of a full scale reactor research facility would be pursued by a MIT led consortium of universities, national laboratories, and industries. This research involves international collaborations with Germany, Russia, China, Japan, and South Africa.

Recent Work