Mr. Garrett Kemmerly and Mr. Lukas Metzger, Graduate Students, VT, will give a talk entitled "Santa Susana Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) Accident"

May 02, 2025

@10:40, 440 Goodwin Hall, 6-051 VTRC, Arlington.
**For remote access, click here to register."

Abstract
Santa Susana Field Laboratory operated the Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) from 1957 until 1964 when it melted down. This was one of the earliest nuclear reactors to begin operations in the US and due to a lack of knowledge, poor operation conditions, and a series of unfortunate events, blockages formed in the coolant lines leading to the meltdown of the fuel rods. Initial radiation releases were well contained within the SRE facilities, but coolant waste management led to significant contamination of the surrounding areas. This event has led to a breadth of new practices involving nuclear procedures, operational conditions, and waste management that continue to exist today.

Bio
Garrett Kemmerly received a B.S. in Mechanical engineering with a minor in nuclear engineering from Virginia Tech. Garrett is pursuing a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering at Virginia Tech under the advising of Dr. Jinsuo Zhang. His research focuses on modeling the nuclear and chemical processes in a next generation molten salt reactor for the purpose of material accountancy. His work also encompasses modeling various molten salt based fuel reprocessing techniques.

Lukas Metzger graduated with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering in 2022 from Virginia Tech. Since then, he has been pursuing a PhD in Nuclear Engineering at Virginia Tech under Dr. Jinsuo Zhang at the Nuclear Materials and Fuel Cycle Research Center. His research focuses on chemical and thermodynamic properties of liquid lead coolant used in next-generation lead-cooled fast reactors.