University Times

Pitt’s nuclear engineering program has netted a grant from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to support two PhD students with $50,000 a year for four years. The students will collaborate with Westinghouse Electric Co. to develop a more quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the degradation of the austenitic stainless steels used in constructing nuclear reactors.

Pitt’s program, housed in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, is the only nuclear engineering track in western Pennsylvania.

The program trains aspiring engineers in nuclear operations and safety by working with nuclear engineering companies such as Bechtel Bettis, Westinghouse and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co.