Thanks to John Koskela for posting the following from CENTAUR, the Center for Excellence in Nuclear Training And University-based Research.
Link is here: https://centaur.tamu.edu/
The Center for Excellence in Nuclear Training And University-based Research (CENTAUR) is a multi-institutional effort led by Texas A&M University and supported by a five-year, $10 million Stewardship Science Academic Alliances (SSAA) grant from the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA). CENTAUR will pursue basic research in low-energy nuclear science through experimental, theoretical, and technical programs using accelerators at Texas A&M’s Cyclotron Institute and Florida State University’s John D. Fox Superconducting Linear Accelerator Laboratory as well as facilities at the other participating institutions. Existing collaborations between scientists at Texas A&M and the NNSA national laboratories—including Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory—will be incorporated into center programs and expanded to involve scientists from all partner institutions, which include Florida State, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Washington, Louisiana State University and the University of Notre Dame.
When they state they are pursuing basic research in “low-energy nuclear science”, it does sound like LENR might be covered, but it’s not clear if they really are interested in it. This is a grant from the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, which normally deals with traditional nuclear fission.
Here’s a DOE press release from July 5, 2018 about the project:
WASHINGTON – The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) has designated a new Center of Excellence to be led by Texas A&M University in the area of Low Energy Nuclear Science as part of the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances (SSAA) Program.
“These grants are instrumental in developing the next generation of scientists in areas of relevance to the stockpile stewardship mission,” said Dr. Kathleen Alexander, Assistant Deputy Administrator for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation in NNSA’s Office of Defense Programs.
Texas A&M University will receive $10 million over five years to manage the Center for Excellence in Nuclear Training and University-based Research (CENTAUR), which will measure high-impact reaction observables and make reaction theory more robust.
CENTAUR, led by Dr. Sherry Yennello, will combine experimental and theoretical initiatives to measure relevant nuclear structure and reaction properties with a large focus on the use of radioactive beams and/or targets. Academic partner institutions include: Florida State University, Washington University, the University of Washington, and Louisiana State University.
Launched in 2002, the SSAA program supports areas of fundamental research and development that are relevant to NNSA’s stockpile stewardship mission while helping to recruit the next generation of highly-trained technical scientists and engineers for the Nuclear Security Enterprise.
