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Edward Blandford is an adjunct research assistant professor in the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of New Mexico. He was previously a postdoctoral fellow at CISAC for 2010-2012.

His research focuses on nuclear reactor design at the system level as it impacts security issues for future nuclear infrastructure. In particular, his interests involve the design of advanced reactors with an emphasis on security, emergency preparedness, threat of theft of material, and international safeguards. This work also focuses on the utilization of risk analysis early in the reactor design process to ensure that safety, security, and structural functional requirements are met reliably. In addition to security applications, other research interests include nuclear reactor thermal-hydraulics in support of the safety of nuclear installations, probabilistic risk assessment, performance-based regulation, best-estimate code verification and validation, and material degradation management.

Before coming to CISAC, Edward was a graduate student researcher in the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of California at Berkeley. His Ph.D. dissertation focused on the design of reduced-scale experiments for advanced high temperature reactors and their role in validating computational models. He received his M.S. in nuclear engineering from UC Berkeley in 2008.

Prior to pursuing graduate work, he worked at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) as a project manager in the Steam Generator Management Program where he managed all thermal-hydraulics related research activity. While at EPRI, Edward worked on a variety of industry-related activities related to material degradation issues and improving plant management.  

Edward studied mechanical engineering at the University of California at Los Angles where he earned a B.S. in 2002. During this period of time, he held Department of Energy research fellowships at both Brookhaven National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory working on nuclear and particle physics applications respectively.

Last updated: August 2012