Part 1 of 2 Parts
Many in the energy industry believe that for the U.S. to reach its net zero goals, nuclear energy needs to be one of the options. One of the major problems with nuclear energy is that its production still suffers from a lack of scalability. Isabel Naranjo is a third-year doctoral student at MIT, advised by Professor Koroush Shirvan. She says that to increase access to nuclear energy, we need to build nuclear reactors more rapidly.
One option is to work with microreactors. These are transportable units that can be sent to areas that need clean electricity. Naranjo De Candido's master’s thesis at MIT was supervised by Professor Jacopo Buongiorno and it focused on such reactors.
Another way to improve access to nuclear power is to design and develop reactors that are modular. The components for such reactors can be manufactured quickly while still maintaining quality. Naranjo De Candido said, “The idea is that you apply the industrialization techniques of manufacturing, so companies produce more [nuclear] vessels, with a more predictable supply chain.” The assumption is that working with standardized designs allows the manufacture of just a few components over and over again to improve speed and reliability as well as lowering costs.
Naranjo De Candido enrolled in a science-based high school shortly after middle school because she knew that that was the track that she enjoyed the most. She was unsure of what field of study she wanted to pursue after she graduated from high school in Padua, Italy.
Because of her excellent grades in middle and high school, Naranjo De Candido won a full scholarship to study at the special Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy. The school only grants masters and doctoral degrees. She said, “I had to select what to study but I was unsure. I knew I was interested in engineering so I selected mechanical engineering because it’s more generic.”
An inspirational nuclear engineering course during her studies inspired her to study nuclear engineering as part of her master’s studies in Pisa. During her time in Pisa, she traveled around the world. She went to China as part of a student exchange program. She also visited Switzerland and the U.S. for internships. She said, “I formed a good background and curriculum and that allowed me to [gain admission] to MIT.”
During an internship at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Naranjo De Candido met an MIT mechanical engineering student who encouraged her to apply to the school for doctoral studies. Another mentor in the Italian nuclear sector had also suggested that she apply to MIT to pursue nuclear engineering.
As part of her doctoral studies, Naranjo De Candido is investigating optimization of the operations and management of these small modular reactors (SMRs) so they can be efficient at all stages of their lifecycle including design, construction, operations, maintenance and decommissioning, The motivation for her research is simple. She said, “We need nuclear for climate change because we need a reliable and stable source of energy to fight climate change.”
Please read Part 2 next