Fiber optic sensing for nuclear power applications

with Derek Rountree,
Senior Research Scientist, Luna Innovations Inc.

February 02, 2024, 10:10 am, 440 Goodwin Hall, Blacksburg
(Northern Virginia Colleagues and Students: 6-051, VTRC, Arlington)

For remote access, register here.

Recent advancements in fiber optic manufacturing, sensor design, and fiber optic interrogators have provided significant opportunities towards the development of cross-cutting fiber optic sensing solutions across the nuclear industry. The addressable markets include Gen II, II+ and IV nuclear reactors, fusion reactors, and accelerator systems. This seminar will present the science behind fiber optic sensing and how fiber optic sensing is being developed and utilized for sensing from fission in-core to fusion super conducting magnet monitoring to perimeter security.

Derek Rountree received bachelor’s degrees in physics and computer science in 2003 from Louisiana State University, followed by a Ph.D. in nuclear astrophysics from Virginia Tech in 2010. Dr. Rountree served as project manager of the highly segmented large volume liquid scintillator detector, The Low-Energy Neutrino Spectrometer (LENS) experiment until 2016 when he joined Luna Innovations. At Luna, Dr Rountree has served as principal investigator for six Phase I SBIR/STTR awards and four Phase II awards, totaling more than $4.8 million. Additionally, Dr. Rountree has received over $3.3 million in Phase III and commercial funding as a result of these Phase I and Phase II awards. His expertise lies in the development and application of fiber optic sensing in harsh radiation environments and geotechnical sensing applications.