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The SALT Research Group

UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering Department

PhD

Nicole Johnson

BIOGRAPHY

Nicole started working on her Nuclear Engineering PhD in 2023. She graduated from UC Irvine with a BS in Chemical Engineering and a license to operate the university’s TRIGA reactor in 2019. She then spent the next 4 years working as a nuclear plant operator at Beaver Valley Power Station, near Pittsburgh.

PROJECTS

At UCB, she is currently working on the ThorCon Natural Circulation Loop, which is will simulate ThorCon’s proposed NaFBe salt coolant in the secondary loop of their reactor. The goal is to determine the degree to which the high temperature difference between the hot and cold legs will cause the stainless steel piping to be dissolved in the hot leg and deposited in the cold leg. This project involves a large volume of 600°C salt to remain molten and flowing for six months, so there is a lot of design, fabrication, and assembly involved!

UNDERGRADUATE MENTORING

  • Sean Tang
  • Sebastian Barnes
  • Valentino Saiz

ORCiD profile: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3409-4935

nicole_johnson@berkeley.edu

Timothy Pickarski

BIOGRAPHY

Tim is a Ph.D. student in the SALT Research Group studying microelectrodes for hydrogen diffusivity measurements in molten fluoride salts. Before graduate studies, he received his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Penn State University. During his undergraduate studies, he studied the reduction of transition metal oxides in molten lithium chloride salt with the Kim Group.

PROJECTS

At UCB, he is working on the development of microelectrodes for independent measurements of the diffusivity and concentration of hydrogen in FLiBe, employing both computational modeling of the system along with experimental construction and testing.

UNDERGRADUATE MENTORING

  • Claire T. Chen (UCB Phys & Astrophys) COMSOL modeling of microelectrode construction.
  • Eric Smith (UCB MechE) CAD and Experimental Development for microelectrodes and test stand.