Purdue University’s School of Nuclear Engineering is launching the first online credential program in small modular reactors (SMRs) in the nation, addressing the need for more reliable, flexible power generation to meet growing electricity demand.

WTHR recently featured Purdue University's growing role in leading Indiana's push toward nuclear energy. The story highlights a visit to the university's PUR-1 reactor and includes interviews with Purdue experts who discuss how the university is driving research on next-generation nuclear technologies and supporting Indiana's vision for sustainable power.

Purdue Nuclear Engineering continues to demonstrate the strength of its undergraduate design curriculum on the national stage. One of Purdue’s eight senior design capstone teams competing in the 2025 American Nuclear Society Student Design Competition has been selected as a national finalist and will present at the ANS Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C., this November.

Reshma Ughade, a PhD student in Purdue’s School of Nuclear Engineering, has been selected by the Nuclear Energy Agency to participate in its NEA Global Forum Rising Stars Workshop 2025, on Dec. 10-12 at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The program will feature high-level speakers, panel discussions, mentoring sessions, and opportunities for participants to present their research.

Seungjin Kim, the Capt. James F. McCarthy, Jr. and Cheryl E. McCarthy Head and a Professor in the School of Nuclear Engineering at Purdue, played a pivotal role in the recent Nuclear Energy Forum 2025, hosted by IBJ Media in partnership with the Indiana Office of Energy Development.

The cover of the August issue of Nuclear News, the flagship trade publication for the nuclear community, features a photo of Purdue Nuclear Engineering’s PUR-1 – the first and only nuclear reactor in the U.S. licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate a fully digital instrumentation and control system.

The School of Nuclear Engineering hosted its annual Atoms at Work Summer camp for high-school students from across the country, offering a unique opportunity for experiential and interactive learning on nuclear science and engineering.

On July 16, Indiana Governor Mike Braun and Education Secretary Katie Jenner hosted U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon during her visit to Indiana, which included a tour of Purdue University’s nuclear reactor research lab. The visit featured a walkthrough of the Nuclear Engineering Building and PUR-1, the only U.S. nuclear reactor licensed to use a fully digital control system. Purdue students, faculty, and staff showcased the reactor’s advanced AI and digital systems, which support research toward next-generation nuclear technologies like small modular and microreactors.

Purdue University School of Nuclear Engineering, in collaboration with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Toshiba, has successfully completed the demonstration of quantum secure communications in a nuclear reactor, Purdue University Reactor Number One (PUR-1), utilizing Toshiba's Long Distance Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology. This experiment marks a significant advancement in the integration of quantum security into nuclear energy systems.

The Teaching Leadership Award honors Purdue faculty and their departments for teaching excellence and leadership. The award aims to foster a culture of teaching excellence in academic departments, develop teaching leaders across all levels of Purdue faculty, and connect faculty members with teaching resources offered by the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE).