Fusion Safety

Name	Title	Bio	Phone Number	Email
Masashi Shimada	Experiments Lead	Leading Principal Investigator at the Safety and Tritium Applied Research (STAR) facility at INL in support of the DOE Fusion Energy Science tritium and safety research. Principal Investigator of the Tritium Plasma Experiment (TPE), Tritium Lead Lithium Eutectic (TLLE) experiment, and the Tritium Heat eXchanger experiment (THX). Conducts experiments and numerical modeling of hydrogen isotope permeation, especially tritium, and transport in materials for fusion applications as well as for the DOE Nuclear Energy (NE) Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) fission plant design. Serves as the Task 1 (In-Vessel Tritium Source Term) coordinator for the International Energy Agency (IEA) Implementing Agreement on the Environmental, Safety and Economic Aspects of Fusion Power (ESE-FP). PhD in Engineering Physics from the University of California-San Diego. Joined INL in 2007.	208-533-4472	Email Contact
Robert Pawelko	STAR Laboratory Space Coordinator	Scientist in the Fusion Safety Program. Investigates tritium permeation in high temperature alloys. Responsible for tritium accountability measurements and documentation and assists in general laboratory activities at the STAR lab. Knowledgeable in tritium accountancy and tritium measurement systems, quadrupole mass spectrometry, BET surface area measurements, elemental assay by prompt gamma neutron activation analysis, and radiation measurements and spectrometry. Supports tasks in hydrogen isotope transport in fusion relevant material studies, beryllium dust explosion studies, beryllium-steam reactivity studies, tritium recovery from irradiated beryllium research, waste characterization, getter applications, and radiation monitoring systems. B.S. in physics from Northeastern Illinois University. Worked at INL since 1989.	208-533-4792	Email Contact
Chase Taylor	Fusion Safety Experiment Research Scientist	Experimental researcher with expertise in hydrogen retention, plasma material interactions, fusion technology, surface chemistry analysis techniques, vacuum systems. Research interests include tritium retention in neutron damaged refractory materials, techniques for measuring defect concentration, and tritium permeation. Principal researcher for STAR surface characterization equipment, including glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GD-OES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning Auger microprobe (SAM), positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS), and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). Operates the neutron irradiated material ion implantation experiment (NIMIIX) focusing on deuterium ion implantation. Conducts thermal desorption spectroscopy and positron annihilation spectroscopy. PhD in nuclear engineering from Purdue University. Joined INL in 2012.	208-533-4068	Email Contact
Tommy Fuerst	Fusion Safety Experiment Research Scientist	Researcher specialized in hydrogen membrane technology, hydrogen transport and permeation, thin-film deposition, and surface analysis. Research interests include fusion fuel cycle technology such as tritium extraction from breeder blanket systems and superpermeable membranes for torus exhaust pumping and separation, multiphase mass transport, systems analysis, and tritium issues and mitigation in molten salt reactors. He joined INL in 2019 after completing his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and BS in Chemical Engineering from University of Colorado Boulder. When not researching tritium, he can be found in the local mountains rock climbing and skiing with his wife Meriel.	208-533-4399	Email Contact
Adriaan Riet	Research Scientist	Adriaan received a BS in Chemical Engineering from BYU in 2015 and a PhD from Case Western Reserve University in 2020. He has been involved in research projects related to cryogenic carbon capture, micron-scale battery characterization and self-charging particle adhesion. His thesis addressed transport properties of materials under the conditions of the earth's core-mantle boundary using molecular dynamics simulations. He currently works within the AGR program investigating the transport of fission products in nuclear-grade graphites with data from the AGR-3/4 experiments.		Email Contact
Matthew Eklund	Postdoctoral Researcher	Matthew is a postdoctoral researcher specializing in computational modeling and simulation for nuclear reactor systems. He is currently involved in the Fusion Safety Program in the development of the MELCOR-TMAP code for modeling and simulation of fusion systems performance and accident scenarios. His previous research has been focused on neutronics and thermal-hydraulics analysis of fission reactor systems and the development of a set of benchmarks based on temperature-dependent critical experiments performed at the Walthousen Reactor Critical Facility (RCF) owned and operated by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from The University of Utah and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering & Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Matthew joined INL as an intern in 2015 after completing his research for his master’s degree and as a postdoctoral researcher in 2021. His interests include philosophy, theology, science fiction and fantasy novels, art, and computer gaming.		Email Contact
Hanns Gietl	Fusion Safety Experiment Research Scientist	Hanns is a researcher focused on the development of fusion systems including plasma-surface interactions, tritium migration in materials, fusion breeding blanket technology and material characterization. He is a specialist for the design and development of tungsten, tungsten-based composites both for fusion reactor application and various characterization techniques including mechanical testing and microscopical analysis. He joined INL in 2022 after a Postdoctoral Researcher appointment with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Radiation Effects and Microstructural Analysis Group and with EUROfusion at the Program Management Unit Power Plant Physics and Technology (PPPT) division. He received his PhD in 2018 from the Technical University Munich for his work performed at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Garching. He also worked in the Glass industry (FEM simulation of bending process) and in the medical technology industry developing a permanent implant for muscle stimulation.		Email Contact

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