By Leslie Wright
For Dr. Todd Palmer, all roads lead back to Oregon State University.
Palmer spent his childhood in the Pacific Northwest. After graduating from high school in Nebraska, he enrolled at OSU, and eventually earned a degree in nuclear engineering.
After completing graduate degrees in nuclear engineering and scientific computing from the University of Michigan, as well as a three-year stint at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he returned home in 1995 and accepted a teaching position at OSU.
Palmer also has ties to Idaho.
The nuclear science and engineering professor was one of the driving forces behind OSU joining the National University Consortium (NUC) when it was established in 2005 by participating in the school's bid. OSU, The Ohio State University, University of New Mexico, MIT and North Carolina State University make up the NUC, a research collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory.
Over his years of participation with NUC, Palmer has worked on several laboratory directed research and development programs, including the Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment, or MOOSE. He has also collaborated on the resumption of transient testing program, TREAT, which is scheduled to restart in 2018.
Palmer also has connections with NuScale, an Oregon-based company that builds small modular reactors. He holds a patent with NuScale for startup simulations he adapted from a graduate school project.
NuScale is planning to build the first operational SMR on INL's desert Site. The SMR could begin delivering power to the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) by 2024. UAMPS provides electricity to more than 40 cities in seven western states. Its biggest customer is Idaho Falls Power.
Palmer attended the NUC Annual Review Meeting at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies with students who spent the summer as interns at INL. The OSU contingent included Jackson Harter, who returned to the lab for his second year, and Tony Alberti.
Both had the opportunity to interact with MOOSE during their time at INL, and Palmer said the experience benefited them.
"I've had nothing but great experiences sending interns here," he said.
Over the next year, Palmer expects his involvement with NUC to grow. He will soon become the associate head of NSE at Oregon State, and said he plans to continue to participate as a researcher and a mentor of students as well.
OSU is hopeful that further projects will be formalized within the coming months, and Palmer would like nothing more than to be at the forefront of these developments.
"I'm excited about the relationship that INL and OSU have built through NUC," Palmer said.
