The cover of the August issue of Nuclear News, the flagship trade publication for the nuclear community, features a photo of Purdue Nuclear Engineering’s PUR-1 – the first and only nuclear reactor in the U.S. licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate a fully digital instrumentation and control system.

The School of Nuclear Engineering hosted its annual Atoms at Work Summer camp for high-school students from across the country, offering a unique opportunity for experiential and interactive learning on nuclear science and engineering.

On July 16, Indiana Governor Mike Braun and Education Secretary Katie Jenner hosted U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon during her visit to Indiana, which included a tour of Purdue University’s nuclear reactor research lab. The visit featured a walkthrough of the Nuclear Engineering Building and PUR-1, the only U.S. nuclear reactor licensed to use a fully digital control system. Purdue students, faculty, and staff showcased the reactor’s advanced AI and digital systems, which support research toward next-generation nuclear technologies like small modular and microreactors.

Purdue University School of Nuclear Engineering, in collaboration with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Toshiba, has successfully completed the demonstration of quantum secure communications in a nuclear reactor, Purdue University Reactor Number One (PUR-1), utilizing Toshiba's Long Distance Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology. This experiment marks a significant advancement in the integration of quantum security into nuclear energy systems.

The Teaching Leadership Award honors Purdue faculty and their departments for teaching excellence and leadership. The award aims to foster a culture of teaching excellence in academic departments, develop teaching leaders across all levels of Purdue faculty, and connect faculty members with teaching resources offered by the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE).

Dr. Seungjin Kim, head of Purdue’s School of Nuclear Engineering, has been selected by the United Nations to offer expertise on small modular reactors, affirming Purdue’s global role in nuclear innovation.

Congratulations to the many students and faculty acknowledged during the 2024-2025 School of Nuclear Engineering Recognition Seminar!

The School of Nuclear Engineering participated in the Purdue University graduate ceremony held on Thursday, May 15th, and Friday, May 16th. On Thursday, 5 PhDs were conferred. On Friday, 6 MSNEs, 2 MNEs, and 27 BSNEs were conferred.

Hands-on learning through real-world applications is a cornerstone of the Purdue Nuclear Engineering experience. Senior students showcased their technical knowledge, innovation, and teamwork through industry-sponsored capstone projects, addressing current challenges in nuclear engineering. Thank you to our sponsors for providing our students with opportunities for culminating design experiences with real-life problems. This year, we had eight teams presenting industry sponsored and mentored designs:

Purdue University's School of Nuclear Engineering is spearheading advancements in nuclear power through initiatives such as conducting pioneering experiments at Indiana’s only nuclear reactor, leading a $6 million Department of Energy-funded research project on small modular reactors (SMRs), and collaborating with Duke Energy to explore the feasibility of SMRs for the university's campus, all aimed at enhancing energy sustainability and innovation.