An Educational Isotope Production Program: Synergy with Nuclear Security and Nonproliferation

Three institutions in Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Virginia State University (VSU), and Virginia Union University (VUU), have formed a consortium with the relatively close Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to conduct research on isotope R&D and production and develop human capital in this area. This consortium is of interest to the nonproliferation community because 1) the primary isotope of research is U-232, which has multiple applications to security and nonproliferation, and 2) the educational program structure is focused on developing significant amounts of job ready human capital. This paper is intended to highlight this consortium and its activities to the nonproliferation community so they can synergize with this effort and adopt human capital best practices.