Rethinking nuclear energy solutions for the African continent

Ericmoore Jossou

MIT

Friday, September 20, 2024

2:00pm

NW17-218 Hybrid

PSFC Seminars

Abstract: Sustainable energy generation is still a huge problem in many African countries. Many of these countries rely on hydroelectric dams and gas-fired power plants for power generation. However, there have been disruptions in the use of dams due to drought and infrastructural gaps in gas transportation to the power plants. Meanwhile, commercial nuclear energy generation is frowned upon mainly because of safety concerns. In this talk, I will discuss the concept of accident-tolerant nuclear fuel design for the safe operation of reactors while pointing out the need for Africa to invest in basic research toward value addition to critical materials used for nuclear reactor design and construction. I will share ongoing work on designing corrosion-resistant and radiation-tolerant coatings using materials indigenous to Africa.\\

Bio: Ericmoore Jossou is the John Clark Hardwick (1986) assistant professor at MIT in a shared position between the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science since July 2023. He previously worked as a staff scientist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy-affiliated lab which conducts research in nuclear and high energy physics, energy science and technology, environmental and bioscience, nanoscience, and national security. Jossou earned a BSc in chemistry from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a masters in materials science and engineering at the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja. He obtained his PhD in mechanical engineering with a specialization in materials science from the University of Saskatchewan. He currently leads the materials in extreme environment research group, which combines experiments with computational methods to establish structure-properties-performance relationships in materials for nuclear energy applications.