UAB fourth-year student David Russell won the 2024 Coryell Award for his research project aimed at reducing nuclear waste.
Author: Katherine Kirk
Media Contact: Tereem Khan
David Russell is pictured with Dr. Jonathan Burns, principal investigator at the Burns Institute, and Jennifer Pyles, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the Burns Institute. David Russell, a senior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, received this award. Recipient of the 2024 American Chemical Society Charles D. Coryell Award in the Division of Nuclear Energy. Awarded for the development of a method for analyzing elements in spent nuclear fuel, with the ultimate goal of industrializing the process of reducing and recycling nuclear waste.
This annual award, sponsored by the Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology within the American Chemical Society, is a highly selective award that recognizes a single undergraduate student who has completed a research project in a nuclear or nuclear-related field.
“I am extremely grateful to have won the 2024 Coryell Award,” Russell said. “This is a life-changing acknowledgment of the academic and professional development I have experienced as an undergraduate chemist.”
For the project titled “Multivariate Modeling to Determine the Concentrations of Elements Found in the Recrystallization of Spent Nuclear Fuel by Ultraviolet-Visible Near-Infrared Spectroscopy,” Russell earned a B.S. in Chemistry and Public Health and a Ph.D. We have combined three degrees: an accelerated master’s degree. , will concentrate on environmental and occupational health and focus on creating a greener and more sustainable future in nuclear energy.
“My research uses multivariate modeling and statistics to separate the spectra of reusable radioactive elements such as uranium, neptunium, plutonium, and americium from fission products, thereby decoupling the spectral overlap of these elements. We were focused on reducing that,” Russell said. “This allows us to analyze the concentrations of these elements during the separation process to confirm their effectiveness. Multivariate analysis helps separate overlapping spectroscopic signals and improves the spent nuclear fuel recycling process. We have confirmed that it can be streamlined.”
After graduating this fall, Russell plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry and said he is pleased to know that this award will highlight the exemplary research done at UAB and positively impact his career. .
