Dr. Pierre-Clément Simon and Dr. Casey Icenhour, Idaho National Laboratory, Developing the Future of Fusion Energy
The Office of Technology Transfers is holding a series of webinars on cutting-edge technologies being developed at the DOE National Labs – and the transformative applications they could have globally for energy access. We sat down with the people behind these technologies – the experts who make that progress possible. These interviews highlight why a strong energy workforce is so important, from the lab into commercial markets. These interviews have been edited for length and do not necessarily reflect the views of the DOE. Be sure to attend DOE’s next National Lab Discovery Series webinar on multiphysics modeling for fusion energy on Wednesday, June 26.
Dr. Pierre-Clément Simon and Dr. Casey Icenhour come from different backgrounds, but share similar passions: for driving forward progress in fusion energy and mentoring early career scientists. At Idaho National Lab, they do both. As computational scientists at INL, they contribute to the development of groundbreaking technologies in the world of fusion. Dr. Simon works on FENIX, a new multi-physics modeling program, and Dr. Icenhour works on MOOSE, a foundational modeling framework that underpins FENIX – a system that is used to simulate reactions within fusion energy.
The Road to Idaho
Dr. Simon grew up in France, where he pursued engineering science for both his undergraduate and Master’s degrees. During his studies, he questioned where he would use the skills and knowledge he was gaining. “I wanted to make sure I applied them to something useful to society, and I asked myself what the big challenges were that we’re facing today. And climate change was one of the main ones for me – and from there working in energy became something that I was very passionate about.” (Simon)
He continued on to his PhD at Penn State, focusing his energy on nuclear fission research. After graduating, he faced a tough decision – stay in the US, or head back home to France. What helped him decide was the culture of American research that allows for ambitious ideas, exploration, and even failure early in one’s career.
“You can’t do science if you’re being too cautious. The early stages of your career are really important to take those risks, grow, challenge the status quo, and have an impact. And for me, the labs – and especially INL – were a great place for that.” (Simon)
Dr. Icenhour started closer to home – growing up in western North Carolina, he got his start at Western Carolina University in the electrical engineering program. His studies there and later at North Carolina State University for his PhD led him to combine his electrical engineering background with a focus in nuclear engineering and plasma physics.
As a first-generation college student, Dr. Icenhour didn’t immediately see the labs as a career option – he assumed he would head into industry after graduation, maybe returning to academia in the future to fuel his passion for teaching. It wasn’t until he discovered and participated in DOE’s Graduate Student Research Award program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that that changed.
“When I went to Oak Ridge, I realized that the labs served this vital need in between academia and industry – they’re doing the big science that [those two] might not be willing or able to pay for because of the size of the investment…I felt that if I wanted to make an impact in a multifaceted way – not only on research, but on collaborations with industry and working with students in service to energy and climate change – that this was the place I wanted to be.” (Icenhour)
Dr. Icenhour continued his work on plasma physics, electromagnetics, and the MOOSE framework at Idaho National Laboratory while continuing to work on his PhD – completing it in 2023 and converting to a full-time staff member at INL.
Physics Modeling of the Future
Dr. Icenhour and Dr. Simon are both computational scientists at INL – but focused on different programs. Dr. Icenhour began working on the MOOSE (Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment) framework during his PhD, and has helped translate its capabilities to FENIX (Fusion ENergy Integrated multiphys-X). Dr. Simon leads the development of FENIX – a modeling system that is able to incorporate multiple frameworks like MOOSE and apply them to fusion simulations.
In basic terms, MOOSE is a multiphysics modeling framework that allows a user to simulate how systems will interact with different, potentially highly-coupled areas of physics. It can allow scientists to test different interactions – how a material would experience heat transfer, electromagnetic forces, solid mechanics, and other materials in different environments.
Scientists use programs like MOOSE to test out designs and functions of new technologies like fission and fusion that are expensive and time- and labor-intensive to test out in reality. Having modeling systems that can reliably simulate how certain designs will interact with different environments saves money and people power, and allows for more creative and ambitious experiments. These programs can rapidly increase the pace of research, development, and deployment of new technologies.
FENIX takes that work a step further – using the lessons learned and capabilities of MOOSE and other frameworks, combining them, and applying it to fusion systems. For example: a researcher could use MOOSE to validate how a material tile responds to heat exposure, and then use FENIX to incorporate other programs like Cardinal (developed at Argonne) and TMAP8 (Tritium Migration Analysis Program, version 8 – developed at INL), to understand how neutron-generated heat and tritium implantation would affect the same material tile.
It sounds complex, but Dr. Simon and Dr. Icenhour describe it as using building blocks – starting small and slowly increasing the complexity.
“Under the MOOSE ecosystem we’re building whole reactor models – the entirety of an advanced reactor core. That’s what we want to do for fusion…Being able to do these fully integrated models can help us develop resources that industry can use for rapid design iteration and engineering. We’re starting small and then building big simulations that can be utilized in an intelligent way to get the answers we need to solve these challenges.” (Icenhour)
Importantly, these programs are or will be completely open source – anyone with an internet connection can download, use, and contribute to MOOSE, and will soon be able to with FENIX as well. This makes collaborations with a much wider network of scientists possible, and the team at Idaho has worked with labs and students across the US, in Italy, and the UK. Dr. Simon explained that his team has developed trainings for these programs and why it’s necessary to keep it open source: “The fusion industry will not exist if we don’t have the workforce that’s needed.” (Simon)
The Power of Mentorship
Dr. Icenhour and Dr. Simon work tirelessly to move these technologies forward, and they have already accomplished quite a bit. Dr. Icenhour actually developed the electromagnetics module of the MOOSE framework as part of his PhD – now it’s being used as part of the larger initiative. “My greatest accomplishment is being able to contribute something that I worked for years on that other folks see as important to their research. The sense of accomplishment I feel from that is incomparable to a lot of other aspects of the job.”
Dr. Simon has had his share of technical accomplishments as well, but shared the pride he felt when he recently received the INL Lab Director’s Award for Inclusive Diversity – given based on his efforts to support international and early career researchers at the lab. “When you want to do great science, you need a fantastic community with a lot of diverse ideas. If you only have the same type of people doing the research, you’re always going to end up with the same outputs, with the same limitations.
But more than any awards or achievements, Dr. Simon and Dr. Icenhour both emphasized that they feel their most important work is mentoring other researchers. They are both still early career themselves, and feel a responsibility to support others in pursuing lab careers. Both are members of the Early Career Researchers Association at INL, with Dr. Simon acting as the current Chair and Dr. Icenhour as the Professional Development Officer.
Dr. Simon spoke about the challenges of first coming to the US as an international student – “My first full discussion in English was at customs. I was blessed to have a lot of people that were willing and able to mentor and guide me – there’s a long list of people that really changed my career. I want to do my best to pay it forward.”
Dr. Icenhour’s experience during his internship at ORNL was similar: “[My experience] at Oak Ridge really introduced me to that way of working and the opportunities I might have, and that changed my career. The mentorships and experiences I received there and the opportunity to go made all the difference.”
Combined, they oversee five interns, and spoke about one student in particular that they are mentoring currently – a graduate student intern who, with the support of Dr. Simon and Dr. Icenhour, has been accepted to multiple National Science Foundation and DOE Fellowships. “I have never been so proud of a student as when we were proud of [our intern] at the end of the summer…It’s [his] accomplishment, and he did the work – but that showed me that I was doing something right as far as being a mentor, and that made me feel really proud.” (Icenhour)
Ultimately, both scientists are contributing a great deal not only to fusion and fission science, but to the field of computational science as a whole. Their journeys haven’t been easy, but their perseverance and commitment to bringing others along with them makes it possible. “My ability to be resilient – even when things go wrong, I keep going. Solving these problems is very challenging, and my ability to keep going and stay motivated is something I’m very proud of.” (Simon)
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