Summary of Professional Qualifications:
After 40+ years of service within the nuclear engineering field, Prof. White officially retired from UMass-Lowell in June 2016 (with continuing part-time involvement with the University after retirement). Much of his focus and experience during his professional career was in the development, application, and teaching of a variety of reactor physics and general computational methods, with nearly six years at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1977-1982) and over 35 years in the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Department at UMass-Lowell (since Sept. 1982). His research and teaching involved him in many aspects of computational modeling and methods development with a special focus in the reactor physics and shielding areas, including
- transport and diffusion theory codes for core design and shielding applications,
- cross section processing codes,
- perturbation theory methods,
- sensitivity and uncertainty analysis methods,
- Monte Carlo criticality analysis and core physics studies, and
- fuel management design and optimization.
He has experience in modeling and analysis of fast reactors, light water power reactors, and research reactors. However, for the last 20+ years at UMass-Lowell, much of his research work focused on the computational modeling and support for the operation and fuel conversion efforts for the UMass-Lowell research reactor (UMLRR), on the design of a new large-volume fast neutron irradiator for the UMLRR, on the educational use of the UMLRR via real-time access to operational data from the reactor, and on the development and application of a multigroup point-wise neutron activation analysis capability to assist in studies related to the lifetime extension and/or decommissioning of nuclear power reactors after extended operation.
Over the years, Prof. White’s teaching assignments included a wide variety of undergraduate courses including Applied Problem Solving with Matlab (an introductory applied numerical methods course), Engineering Differential Equations, Fluid Mechanics, Heat Transfer, Engineering Thermodynamics and, of course, UML’s introductory Reactor Physics & Engineering sequence and the undergraduate Nuclear Engineering Design course. At the graduate level, he has taught courses in System Dynamics, Math Methods for Engineers, Reactor Physics, Reactor Experiments, graduate Nuclear Design, and a catch-all course called Special Topics in Reactor Physics (which included focused special topics such as perturbation theory, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, reactor dynamics, computational methods, transport theory, Monte Carlo methods, space power systems, etc., with the topic varying each time the course was taught, depending on the current student interest at the time).
His academic interests also focused on teaching quality, on the development of educational resources for student learning, and on the appropriate use of technology within the field of engineering education.
Education:
B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Lowell, Lowell, MA (1977).
B.S., Nuclear Engineering, University of Lowell, Lowell, MA (1977).
M.S., Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (1980).
Ph.D., Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (1987).
Professional Experience: (full details)
1982 – present, Emeritus Prof., Chemical & Nuclear Engineering, UMass-Lowell, Lowell, MA.
1997 – 2004, Part-time consulting at Duke Engineering and Services, Marlborough, MA.
1990 – 1997, Part-time consultant at Yankee Atomic Electric Co., Bolton, MA.
1988 – 1990, Part-time consulting at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.
1977 – 1982, Research staff member at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.
Summer 1976, Summer Co-Op at Maine Yankee Atomic Power Plant, Wiscasset, ME.
1971 – 1974. Served in the United States Air Force as an electronics technician.
Recent Contracts: (full details)
Co-Principal Investigator (with Prof. S Aghara as PI) on Project No. S56000000031053 "Engagement with the University of Sharjah " University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates August 2015 - August 2018.
Co-Principal Investigator (with Prof. S Aghara as PI) on Project No. S5600000024900, "Nuclear Engineering Education and Training (NEET) Summer Institute," King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, Summer 2013.
Principal Investigator on Project No. S51000000016825 “Development of a Reactor Experiments Course at UMass-Lowell.” Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Aug. 2011 – December 2013.
Co-Principal Investigator (with Leo Bobek as PI) on Project No. S51900000015544, “Support for Shipment of WPI Fuel to the UMLRR,” Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), July 2009 - September 2014.
Principal Investigator on Project No. S51320000015442, “MCNP Modeling and Equipment Testing within the UMLRR,” Ocean Acoustical Services and Instrumentation Systems (OASIS), Lexington, MA (subcontract through the Naval Undersea Warfare Center), June 2010 - August 2011.
Recent Publications: (full details)
J. R. White, “Reactor Laboratory Modules Available at the UMass-Lowell Research Reactor” Transactions ANS 2014 Winter Meeting, Anaheim, CA (Nov. 2014).
L. Kyriazidis and J. R. White, “Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling via COMSOL of Isoflux Vertical Parallel Plates”, Transactions ANS 2013 Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia (June 2013).
J. R. White, “New Reactor Experiments Course at the University of Massachusetts Lowell”, Proceedings Research Reactor Fuel Management Conference (RRFM 2013), St. Petersburg, Russia (April 2013).
J. R. White, R. Gocht, M. Pike, and J. Marcyoniak, “Validation of the 3-D VENTURE and MCNP UMLRR Core Models used in Support of the WPI Fuel Transfer Project”, Proceedings Research Reactor Fuel Management Conference (RRFM2012), Prague, Czech Republic (March 2012).
R. Gocht, M. Pike, and J. R. White, “Depletion Analysis of the UMass-Lowell Research Reactor Using Monte Carlo-ORIGEN Coupling (MCODE)”, poster presented at the ANS 2011 Winter Meeting, Washington D.C (Nov. 2011).
J. R. White, R. Gocht, and M. Ducey, “MCNP Modeling for the UMLRR and Selected Gamma Irradiation Facilities,” Final Report for UMass-Lowell Research Foundation Project No. S51320000015442 (Sept. 2011).
Recent Presentations: (full details)
“Experience with Internet Reactor Labs at the UMass-Lowell Research Reactor” IAEA Training Workshop on Research Reactor Utilization for Higher Education Programs, Vienna, Austria (June 2017).
“Reactor Laboratory Modules Available at the UMass-Lowell Research Reactor” ANS 2014 Winter Meeting, Anaheim, CA (Nov. 2014).
“Facility Highlights and Reactor Labs Available at the UMass-Lowell Research Reactor” IAEA Specialists Meeting on Research Reactor Utilization for Higher Education Programs, Vienna, Austria (June 2014).
“New Reactor Experiments Course at the University of Massachusetts Lowell”, Research Reactor Fuel Management Conference (RRFM 2013), St. Petersburg, Russia (April 2013).
“Validation of the 3-D VENTURE and MCNP UMLRR Core Models used in Support of the WPI Fuel Transfer Project”, Research Reactor Fuel Management Conference (RRFM2012), Prague, Czech Republic (March 2012).
Recent Student Theses/Projects: (full details)
PhD/DEng Degree:
"Computational Modeling and Simulation to Generate Reactor Physics Parameters for Core Conversion of MNSR from HEU to LEU Fuel" by Abdulhameed Salawu. PhD granted by Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria (June 2013).
MS Degree:
“Thermal Hydraulic Modeling of the Mock Fuel Facility”, by Jacob Gardner (Dec. 2015).
“Experimental and Computational Thermal Hydraulic Studies on the Mock Fuel Facility”, by Lucas Kyriazidis (May 2014).
“Expanding Local Capabilities for the Computational Analysis of the UMass Lowell Research Reactor,” by Michael Pike (May 2013).
“Inverse Kinetics-Based Reactivity Meter for the UMLRR,” by Thomas Michaud (December 2011).
MS Projects:
“Coupling MCNP and ORIGEN for the Depletion Analysis of the UMLRR and Validating a Final MCNP Model for Present Day Reactor Modeling,” by Russell Gocht (December 2012).
“Development of a Mock Fuel Facility Prototype,” by Eric Johnson (May 2010).
Recent Student Conferences: (full details)
2012 ANS National Student Conference (University of Nevada Las Vegas, April 2012)
“MCNP Modeling of the UMLRR Irradiation Facilities” by Michael Ducey.
“Development of a Fuel Management System for the UMass Lowell Research Reactor” by Michael Pike.
“MCNPX-PoliMi as a Tool to Analyze Capture-Gated Neutron Detectors” by Marc Ruch.
Last updated by Prof. John R. White (January 2020)
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