Researcher

 

Curtis has worked in the fuel development field for 25 years. During this time, he has dealt primarily with metal fuels but has experience with compounds and intermetallics. He has worked in nearly all the phases of fuel development including feedstock preparation, fuel alloying and casting, powder production, preparation of fuel pellets, slugs, foils and compacts, irradiation test assembly, and post-irradiation examination. He has worked on programs as diverse as the Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors program, the Advanced Fuels Cycle Initiative Plutonium Protection Program with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. He has been involved with management of research and research personnel since 2012 and a department manager over the Fuel Development Department since 2015. This department is responsible for nuclear fuels work dealing with fuel fabrication for irradiation campaigns, novel fabrication methods and experiment assembly.