Federal agencies have given the University of Iowa four million dollars in grants to study ways to deal with spent nuclear fuel across the country. Spokesperson Tori Forbes says finding ways to safely store the nuclear material is just one part of the research. They also want to train the next generation of researchers in radiochemistry.
Forbes says federal officials don’t want to lose ground that’s been gained in nuclear research.
She is an associate professor of chemistry and says students who enter the field are almost guaranteed to find a job once graduating.
The four million dollars in grants the U-I won includes a 600-thousand dollar grant for faculty to develop the radiochemistry program, and 522-thousand dollars to support fellowships for graduate students in the program.
