Supathorn Phongikaroon, Ph.D.

Engineering Foundation Professor and Director of Nuclear Engineering Programs

  • Richmond VA UNITED STATES
  • Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
sphongikaroon@vcu.edu

Professor Phongikaroon's research focuses on pedagogy and experimental studies in used nuclear fuel reprocessing.

Contact

Media

Biography

Dr. Phongikaroon earned his PhD and BS degrees in chemical engineering and nuclear engineering from University of Maryland, College Park in 2001 and 1997, respectively. Prior joining the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in January 2014, he held academic and research positions at University of Idaho in Idaho Falls, ID; Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, ID; and Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. During his research career, Dr. Phongikaroon has established chemical and electrochemical separation of used nuclear fuel through pyroprocessing technology and extended his expertise toward molten salt reactor physics and material detection and accountability for safeguarding applications. These developments include kinetics in ion exchange process, advanced chemical separation routines via cold fingers and zone freezing, electrochemical methods, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy, and computational modeling for electrorefiner. This effort has led to a strong establishment of Radiochemistry and Laser Spectroscopy Laboratories at VCU.

Industry Expertise

Education/Learning
Research

Areas of Expertise

Nuclear and chemical separation technology in fuel cycle research and development
Electrochemical processes
Special material detection and analysis via laser and mass spectroscopy techniques

Accomplishments

Outstanding Contributor Award

Awarded by the Center for Advanced Energy Studies.

Education

University of Maryland

Ph.D.

Chemical Engineering

2001

University of Maryland

B.S.

Nuclear Engineering, Chemical Engineering

1997

Media Appearances

VCU’s nuclear engineering program marks 10th anniversary

Nuclear News  print

2017-01-01

VCU’s nuclear engineering program is advancing a strong research agenda. Highlights include Tepper’s study of uranyl soil extraction and fluorescence enhancement by silica gel, which resulted in a new method to allow fast and sensitive measurement of uranium in soil. Bilbao y León’s research on branding the nuclear fuel cycle offers a comprehensive approach to communicating with the public about nuclear energy and building a better understanding of the nuclear fuel cycle. This year, Supathorn Phongikaroon, associate professor of nuclear engineering, and his team developed a method to measure and produce near real-time measurements of the elemental concentration of salts in nuclear electro-refiners using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. This process helps ensure material accountability and safeguards of special nuclear materials.

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Laser research could benefit nuclear recycling

Phys.org  online

2013-08-27

Today, the process to analyze isotopes is time-intensive—typically taking days to transport, process and analyze a sample. For international safeguards, this process takes even longer, since the samples must be sent to a different facility, often in another country. At the CAES Radiochemistry Laboratory, researchers are working to prove a method that would reduce that time to a matter of minutes.

'This is vital in improving material accountability in nuclear reprocessing,' said Supathorn Phongikaroon, a University of Idaho/CAES researcher and the project's principal investigator...

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Research Focus

Compositional Analysis of Fission Elements in Rapid Setting Cement as an Immobilization Agent for Nuclear Waste

Riyadh Motny, PHD Candidate

The study focuses on assessment on the RSC and its usage in capturing certain elements (fission products or radioactive materials) within its structure and development of a detection method for radioactive elements captured in ceramic materials.

Elucidation of Electrochemical Properties of Alkaline/Alkaline Earth, and Actinide Elements on Liquid Metal in LiCl-KCl Eutectic Salt

Michael Woods, PHD Student

The study focuses on fundamental electrochemical properties of alkali/alkaline earth fission products and possible actinide elements in LiCl-KCl molten salts with liquid metal electrodes in a controlled glovebox environment, for possible improvement on reprocessing technology applications.

Innovative Materials Detection and Analysis by Quasi-Simultaneous Use of Voltammetric Techniques and Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy on Used Nuclear Fuel Treatment

Hunter Andrews, PHD Student

The study focuses on determining the material compositions and characteristics of unknown materials by creating a database of information using measurements from a quasi-simultaneous system utilizing different voltammetric methods (e.g., cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronopotentiometry (CP), etc.) and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS).

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Research Grants

Fundamental Data toward Silver-Silver Chloride Reference Electrodes

Idaho National Laboratory

Duration: December 2016 – December 2018

Fundamental Study of Uranium Morphology in LiCl-KCl Eutectic

Idaho National Laboratory

Duration: December 2016 – December 2018

Fundamental Electrochemical Properties of Liquid Metals in LiCl-KCl for Separation of Alkali/Alkaline-Earths (Cs, Sr and Ba)

Nuclear Energy University Program—U.S. Department of Energy

Duration: September 2015 – September 2018
Subcontract distribution from the Pennsylvania State University

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Courses

EGMN 691 - Fast Reactors (Spring 2017)

This course is designed to give the graduate students an overview on the Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) technology focusing on the following topics: (1) breeding and the role of fast breeder reactors – basic physics, strategy analysis and uranium resources; (2) FBR design consideration – brief aspect in to the mechanical and thermal systems including core materials; (3) economic analysis of nuclear reactors; (4) nuclear design through multi-group diffusion theory; (5) reactor kinetics; and (6) fuel burnup.

EGMN 352 - Nuclear Reactor Theory (Spring 2017, Spring 2015)

This course introduces the fundamental properties of the neutron, the reactions induced by neutrons, nuclear fission, the slowing down of neutrons in infinite and finite media, diffusion theory, the 1-group or 2-group approximation, point kinetics, and fission-product effects. Provides students with the nuclear reactor theory foundation necessary for reactor design and reactor engineering problems.

EGMN 591 - Nuclear Safeguards, Security, and Nonproliferation (Spring 2016)

This course will explore the political and technological issues involved with nuclear safeguards, security, and nonproliferation. Topics studied will include the history of nuclear weapons development, description and effects of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear material safeguards, protection of nuclear materials, proliferation resistance and pathways in the nuclear fuel cycle, international and domestic safeguards, nuclear terrorism, and safeguards measurement techniques for material accountancy programs and physical protection mechanisms.

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Selected Articles

A Novel Framework for Intelligent Signal Detection via Artificial Neural Networks for Cyclic Voltammetry in Pyroprocessing Technology

ANNALS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY Volume: 111 Pages: 242-254 (2018)

Pouri, Samaneh Rakhshan; Manic, Milos, Phongikaroon, Supathorn

DOI: 10.1016/j.anucene.2017.09.002

Measurement of Cerium and Gadolinium in Solid Lithium Chloride-Potassium Chloride Salt Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)

APPLIED SPECTROSCOPY Volume: 71 Issue: 10 Pages: 2302-2312 (2017)

Williams, Ammon; Bryce, Keith; Phongikaroon, Supathorn

DOI: 10.1177/0003702817709298

Electrochemical and Thermodynamic Properties of UCl3 in LiCl-KCl Eutectic Salt System and LiCl-KCl-GdCl3 System

JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY Volume: 164 Issue: 9 Pages: E217-E225 (2017)

Yoon, Dalsung; Phongikaroon, Supathorn

DOI:10.1149/2.0411709jes

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