2018 | ANNUAL REPORT 25 lost strength from the welding process. After irradiation, both the diameter and number density increased, which was explained by an irradiation-enhanced diffusion mechanism, reflecting how precipi- tation and growth of the dispersoid occurs under irradiation. Future efforts to increase the library of MA956 sample conditions at higher doses within the reactor operating envelope are planned, to provide more evidence for the suitability of MA956 being used in next-generation reactors. The 2018 RTE was the third, and a continuation of ion irradiation research Getto had done at the University of Michigan's Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory, an NSUF partner facility, and in the Micros- copy and Characterization Suite at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies in Idaho Falls, where NSUF has its headquarters.The work is being funded in part by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). Collaborating with Cmdr. Brad Baker, a professor at the Naval Academy, they plan to conduct further research in spring 2019 at Idaho National Laboratory’s Materials & Fuels Complex (MFC). Getto joined the Naval Academy faculty in 2016 after receiving her master’s and doctorate in nuclear engineering from University of Michigan. She quickly became aware of NSUF and the opportuni- ties represented by RTEs, and the opportunities for the Naval Academy, which has about nine faculty and 45 people on staff focused on nuclear research plus a wealth of materials. Born into a nuclear Navy family, Getto teaches in Rickover Hall, named after Adm. Hyman Rickover, the admiral who directed the orig- inal development and use of nuclear in its fleet. She believes the Navy has a special leadership position in the nuclear research community. “The next generation has some new ideas,” she said. “We’re much more willing to reach across the aisle to environmentalists, and more open to new technologies. It’s one thing for a professor to say, ‘Nuclear energy is the solution,’ but to get buy-in from midshipmen at the Academy is another matter.”