Brenden Heidrich

Profile Information
Name
Dr. Brenden Heidrich
Institution
Idaho National Laboratory
Position
NSUF Director, Chief Irradiation Scientist
Affiliation
Nuclear Science User Facilities
h-Index
5
ORCID
0000-0001-5639-3307
Biography

Dr. Brenden Heidrich is the Director of the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF), led out of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).  As the NSUF Director, he focuses on building a program to enable nuclear energy researchers to access national capabilities to further their endeavors.  He previously served as the NSUF Chief Scientist for Irradiations and the Irradiation Testing Department Manager for the Nuclear Fuels and Materials Division at the INL.  Before moving to the INL, Dr. Heidrich was a research professor at the Radiation Science and Engineering Center at the Pennsylvania State University where he taught reactor physics and nuclear security and was a licensed senior reactor operator. 

Dr. Heidrich’s career has been focused on the design, operation, and utilization of research and test reactors to perform research, education, and outreach. Beyond his leadership role with the NSUF, he also assists the Department of Energy in research reactor infrastructure areas.  He is a licensed professional nuclear engineer in Idaho and Pennsylvania.

Dr. Heidrich learned nuclear engineering in the US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, serving onboard the USS Enterprise nuclear aircraft carrier.  Later he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Nuclear Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and doctoral degree in Energy and Mineral Engineering from Penn State. He serves on the Professional Engineering Examination Committee and the executive committees of the Isotopes and Radiation and Material Science and Technology Divisions of the American Nuclear Society.

Expertise
Advanced Reactors, Gamma Irradiation, Isotopic Neutron Sources, LWR, Neutron Activation Analysis, Research Reactor
Publications:
"Materials qualification through the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF): A case study on irradiated PM-HIP structural alloys" Janelle Wharry, Donna Guillen, Caleb Clement, Saquib Bin Habib, Wen Jiang, Yu Lu, Yaqiao Wu, Ching-Heng Shiau, David Frazer, Brenden Heidrich, Collin Knight, David Gandy, Frontiers in Nuclear Engineering Vol. 2 2023 1306529 Link
"Roadmap for the application of ion beam technologies to the challenges of nuclear energy technologies" Brenden Heidrich, Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research B Vol. 441 2019 41-45 Link
The use of ion beams to estimate materials performance for nuclear energy applications is advancing at a rapid rate with ion irradiations having been shown to produce radiation effects data of direct relevance for understanding neutron-induced displacement damage. Ion beam irradiation shows considerable promise for assisting in down selecting candidate materials for use in nuclear energy systems. Furthermore, ion beams allow rapid achievement of materials damage levels not accessible by neutron irradiation in test reactors due to cost and time constraints. Compared to test reactor irradiations, the relatively open configuration of ion beam irradiations allows capture of data on the effects of irradiation under very specific conditions of temperature, radiation dose, and radiation dose rate that are difficult or impossible to achieve otherwise. There are still multiple challenges to the deployment of ion beam data in support of reactor materials qualification arising from the lack of a detailed mechanistic understanding of potential difference between ion-induced and neutron induced materials damage. Recently, the Nuclear Science User Facilities presented a roadmap for the development and enhancement of current U.S. ion beam irradiation technologies within university and national laboratory settings, and especially for the deployment of new highly controlled in situ interrogation of materials during irradiation to provide dynamic and mechanistic data for model development. In this paper, the status and capabilities of relevant U.S. ion beam facilities will be summarized and recommended “best practices” for performing ion irradiations will be described. The potential role of ion beam irradiations to assist the development and deployment of reactor materials will be outlined. Key objectives include developing methods for rapid and cost-effective materials selection and development, characterizing fundamental material response under irradiation, and developing a robust mechanistic understanding of microstructure evolution under irradiation (including development and validation of reliable predictive models for microstructure evolution).
Presentations:
"Neutron Irradiation Challenges and Opportunities in Nuclear Energy Research and Development" Brenden Heidrich, Nuclear Engineering Department - Graduate Colloquium January 24-24, (2019)
"The Role of NSUF in Nuclear Energy Materials R&D (program overview)" Brenden Heidrich, Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES) December 10-14, (2023) Link
Additional Publications:
"NSUF Industry Engagement Meeting Summary" Peng Xu, Brenden Heidrich, [2023] · DOI: 10.2172/2462694
"NSUF CoMET Project, Implementation Plan FY2019" Brenden Heidrich, [2019] · DOI: 10.2172/1615833
"Neutron Damage Calculator [Poster]" Brenden Heidrich, Kelley Verner, [2018] · DOI: 10.2172/1968150
"Nuclear Science User Facility: Overview of Neutron Irradiation Activities" Brenden Heidrich, [2017] · DOI: 10.2172/1468628
"Using the sound of nuclear energy" James Smith, Robert Smith, Brenden Heidrich, Michael Heibel, Steven Garrett, [2016] Nuclear Technology · DOI: 10.13182/nt16-8 · EID: 2-s2.0-84991100091
"Wireless in-core acoustic telemetry and self-powered sensing" [2016] Top Fuel 2016: LWR Fuels with Enhanced Safety and Performance · EID: 2-s2.0-85019027385
"Reactor production of <sup>64</sup>Cu and <sup>67</sup>Cu using enriched zinc target material" Brenden J. Heidrich, Chad B. Durrant, Andrew J. Bascom, Kenan Ünlü, Amanda M. Johnsen, [2015] Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry · DOI: 10.1007/s10967-015-4032-6 · EID: 2-s2.0-84930480579
"Reactor production of Cu-64 and Cu-67 using enriched zinc target material" Brenden J. Heidrich, Chad B. Durrant, Andrew J. Bascom, Kenan Ünlü, Amanda M. Johnsen, [2015] Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry · DOI: 10.1007/s10967-015-4032-6
"Compton suppressed LaBr3 detection system for use in nondestructive spent fuel assay" B. Heidrich, K. Ünlü, S. Bender, [2015] Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment · DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2014.12.025 · EID: 2-s2.0-84939981398
"Compton suppressed LaBr3 detection system for use in nondestructive spent fuel assay" B. Heidrich, K. Ünlü, S. Bender, [2015] Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section a-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment · DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2014.12.025
"ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFICIENCY OF EXTENDED POWER UPRATES AT US BOILING WATER REACTORS" Samuel A. Oyewole, Richard Olawoyin, Brenden Heidrich, [2013] Nuclear Technology · DOI: 10.13182/nt13-a15822
"Assessment of the efficiency of extended power uprates at U.S. boiling water reactors" [2013] Nuclear Technology · EID: 2-s2.0-84878471342
"Operational effects of high reactivity irradiation targets on a university research reactor" [2013] Transactions of the American Nuclear Society · EID: 2-s2.0-84902828844
"Advances in industrial isotope production at the Radiation Science and Engineering Center at Penn State University" [2012] Transactions of the American Nuclear Society · EID: 2-s2.0-84876377129
"Development of online reactor experiments software at Penn State" [2012] Transactions of the American Nuclear Society · EID: 2-s2.0-84876379365
"Reactor based production and purification of 64Cu and 67Cu" [2012] Transactions of the American Nuclear Society · EID: 2-s2.0-84876376707
"A reliability impact analysis of extended power up-rates at U.S. Boiling water reactors" [2011] Transactions of the American Nuclear Society · EID: 2-s2.0-84875663732
"Radiation science and engineering center upgrades at the pennsylvania state university" [2011] Transactions of the American Nuclear Society · EID: 2-s2.0-84875686493
"Twenty years of experience with a digital control system at the Pennsylvania State University research reactor" [2011] Transactions of the American Nuclear Society · EID: 2-s2.0-84876478242
"Further development of trigsims code system for Penn State breazeale reactor fuel management" [2010] Transactions of the American Nuclear Society · EID: 2-s2.0-79551660722
"Thermal-hydraulic modeling of Penn State Breazeale Reactor for safety and fuel management analysis" [2010] Transactions of the American Nuclear Society · EID: 2-s2.0-79551655680
"Validation of the MCNP5 core model of the PSU breazeale research reactor" [2005] Monte Carlo 2005 Topical Meeting · EID: 2-s2.0-33644605212
"Automated three dimensional depletion capability for the Pennsylvania State University research reactor" [2004] Proceedings of the PHYSOR 2004: The Physics of Fuel Cycles and Advanced Nuclear Systems - Global Developments · EID: 2-s2.0-22344454743
Source: ORCID/CrossRef using DOI