DOE GRANT GROWS NC STATE K-12 NUCLEAR EDUCATION EFFORTS

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NC State University will receive up to $200,000 from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy to create short courses for high school students and educators to learn how to use a nuclear reactor – part of an effort to generate early academic interest in a field of growing national importance.

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The students will use NC State’s PULSTAR reactor, a one-megawatt pool-type nuclear reactor used primarily for education and training purposes in addition to several research projects.

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The funds from the DOE will go to the PULSTAR Reactor Outreach and Sharing for K-12 Organizations program, which will teach high school students and educators how nuclear reactors are operated, controlled and utilized safely and productively. This expands the work NC State has already been doing with K-12 schools over the last 25 years.

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NC State is one of three universities nationwide to receive funding from the DOE, which awarded nearly $600,000 total to increase educational access to nuclear reactors. Pennsylvania State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison each received just under $200,000 for nuclear engineering education outreach efforts.

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NC State is one of the few institutions in the country with a nuclear reactor, and one of even fewer with outreach centered around bringing students to the reactor.

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Since its inception, the Office of Nuclear Energy has invested more than $1 billion toward students and faculty advancing nuclear energy research and training future leaders in nuclear energy.

 

(Editor's note: This article was adapted from "DOE Grant Grows NC State K-12 Nuclear Education Efforts” which was originally published in the College of Engineering News at: https://news.ncsu.edu/2026/02/doe-grant-grows-nc-state-k-12-nuclear-education-efforts/ )