TVA Department Head and UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair Professor of Computational Nuclear Engineering
Biography
Brian Wirth is the TVA Department Chair and UT–ORNL Governor’s Chair Professor of Computational Nuclear Engineering in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Professor Wirth’s research investigates the performance of nuclear fuels, structural materials and plasma facing components in nuclear fission and fusion environments, utilizing computational materials modeling complemented by experimental investigation. Brian received a BS in nuclear engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992 and a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1998. Prior to joining UT, he was on the nuclear engineering faculty at the University of California, Berkeley and was a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Research
Computational multiscale materials modeling of nuclear fuel and structural materials performance in extreme nuclear fission and fusion environments. Experimental materials characterization techniques to quantify vacancies and gas behavior in solids, including position annihilation spectroscopy, thermal diffusion and gas permeation in solids. Diagnostic measurements of impurity transport in boundary fusion plasmas and thermography measurements and analysis of heat flux deposition on plasma facing surfaces of fusion reactors.
Education
University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA.
PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Degree awarded: 12/1998
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.
BS in Nuclear Engineering with Highest Honors, Degree awarded: 6/1992
Professional Service
- Member, UTK Mossman Lecture Series Selection Committee, April 2022 – current.
- Chairman, DOE Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) Facilities Construction Projects Subcommittee, January 2024 – May 2024.
- Member, Idaho National Laboratory Nuclear Science & Engineering Directorate Strategic Advisory Committee, April 2023 – present.
- Member, ANS Honors and Award Committee, June 2021 – June 2027.
- Member, United States National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Committee to define the Key Goals and Innovations Needed for a U.S. Fusion Pilot Plant, July 2020 – March 2021
- Member, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Agency, Fusion Technical Advisory Group (F-TAG) for the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) project, 2022 – present.
- Member, United States National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Committee to define A Strategic Plan for U.S. Burning Plasma Research, June 2018 – February 2020.
Awards and Recognitions
- American Nuclear Society (ANS) Fellow
- 2016 American Nuclear Society Mishima Award for outstanding work in nuclear fuels and materials research
- 2014 Department of Energy, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award in Energy Science and Innovation
- 2007 Fusion Power Associates David J. Rose Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award
- 2006 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
- 2003 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
Publications
A full list of Wirth's publications is available at his Google Scholar Profile.
- J. Rizk, J.W. McMurray and B.D. Wirth, “Boron and lithium aqueous thermochemistry to model CRUD deposition in pressurized water reactors”, Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics 195 (2024) 107289.
- L. Yang and B.D. Wirth, “First-principles study of diffusion of intrinsic defects in tungsten borides”, Journal of Nuclear Materials 591(2024) 154931.
- C.G. Ghezzi, B.D. Wirth and N.R. Brown, “TRISO burnup-dependent failure analysis of a HTGR design basis accident using BISON”, Nuclear Science & Engineering 198 (2024) 1036-1050.
- D.G. Whyte, C. Paz-Soldan and B. Wirth, “The academic research ecosystem required to support the development of fusion energy”, Physics of Plasmas 30(2023) 090604.
- D. Dasgupta, S. Blondel, E. Martinez, D. Maroudas, and B.D. Wirth, “Impact of Soret effect on hydrogen and helium retention in PFC tungsten under ELM-like conditions”, Nuclear Fusion 63(2023) 076029.
- G. Singh and B.D. Wirth, “Impact of circumferential variation in power, neutron flux and spacer grids on structural behavior of SiC-SiC cladding”, Journal of Nuclear Materials 565 (2022) 153726.
- L. Yang and B.D. Wirth, “Boron segregation and effect on hydrogen energetics near tungsten surfaces: A first-principles study”, Surface Science 717(2022) 121983.
- M.R. Gilbert, K. Arakawa, Z. Bergstrom, M.J. Caturla, F. Gao, A.M. Goyaneva, S.Y. Hu, X. Hu, R.J. Kurtz, A. Litnovsky, J. Marian, M.-C. Marinica, E. Martinez, E.A. Marquis, D.R. Mason, B.N. Nguyen, P. Olsson, Y. Osetskiy, D. Senor, W. Setyawan, M.P. Short, T. Suzudo, J.R. Trelewicz, T. Tsuru, G.S. Was, B.D. Wirth, L. Yang, Y. Zhang, and S.J. Zinkle, “Perspectives on multiscale modeling and experiments to accelerate materials development for fusion”, Journal of Nuclear Materials 554(2021) 153113.
- S. Taller, G. VanCouvering, B.D. Wirth, and G.S. Was, “Predicting Structural Material Degradation in Advanced Nuclear Reactors with Ion Irradiation”, Scientific Reports 11 (2021) 2949.
- G.R. Odette, M.J. Alinger and B.D. Wirth, “Recent Developments in Irradiation- Resistant Steels”, Annual Review of Materials Research 38 (2008) 471-503/li>