The PIRE project brings together key partners and research facilities in Germany, Ireland, Japan, and Russia, to focus on nuclear energy/fusion, lithography and high energy and nuclear physics applications. The development and refinement of advanced materials for nuclear and cutting-edge applications will allow energy systems to operate with increased reliability, safety and economy while increasing sustainability and limiting negative environmental impacts. This research will significantly reduce the principal bottleneck for developing future energy technologies, the lack of reliable damage-resistant materials for use under extreme environments. The research will critically advance knowledge about the interaction of particle and plasma beams with various materials under extreme irradiation conditions. These scientific outcomes have related policy impacts for systems modeling and energy planning in both the near and long term for both developed and developing countries as global appetites for energy continue to increase. The goal for this project is to provide robust computer resources and experimental validation to minimize irradiation-based design constraints of materials performance while situating this research within a larger context of sustainability, resource management and global energy policy.

The PIRE project highlights extensive collaboration in research and education over the next five years among our international partners in Germany, Ireland, Japan, and Russia.

Members of the project are: Professor Ahmed Hassanein, Purdue University, Dean Heshmat Aglan, Tuskegee University, AL, Dean John Costello, Dublin City University, Ireland, Dean Audeen Fentiman, Purdue University ,Professor Sivanandan Harilal, Purdue University, Dr. Vladimir Kozhevin, Ioffe Institute, Russia, Dr. Jochen Linke, Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Germany, Professor James Stubbins, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, Professor Kazuo Tanaka, Osaka University, Japan and Professor Joyce Main, Purdue University