The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) has designated a new Center of Excellence to be led by Texas A&M University in the area of Low Energy Nuclear Science as part of the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances (SSAA) Program.

“These grants are instrumental in developing the next generation of scientists in areas of relevance to the stockpile stewardship mission,” said Dr. Kathleen Alexander, Assistant Deputy Administrator for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation in NNSA’s Office of Defense Programs. 

Texas A&M University will receive $10 million over five years to manage the Center for Excellence in Nuclear Training and University-based Research (CENTAUR), which will measure high-impact reaction observables and make reaction theory more robust.

CENTAUR, led by Dr. Sherry Yennello, will combine experimental and theoretical initiatives to measure relevant nuclear structure and reaction properties with a large focus on the use of radioactive beams and/or targets.  Academic partner institutions include: Florida State University, Washington University, the University of Washington, and Louisiana State University.

“The NNSA funding will give the Fox Laboratory a tremendous opportunity to further expand the nation’s scientific workforce,” Professor Ingo Wiedenhoever of Florida State University said. The Florida State University's John D. Fox Superconducting Linear Accelerator Laboratory has been educating nuclear scientists for over 50 years, and the additional funding through the NNSA will boost these efforts and fund a nuclear science camp for rising ninth-graders in the Bay County School District.

Launched in 2002, the SSAA program supports areas of fundamental research and development that are relevant to NNSA’s stockpile stewardship mission while helping to recruit the next generation of highly-trained technical scientists and engineers for the Nuclear Security Enterprise.