Summary of Research
Kaylee’s research focuses on nuclear fuel materials. Specifically, she studies fission gas release—a phenomenon she likes to compare to burping. To generate electricity, nuclear fuel undergoes fission, the process of splitting atoms apart. During that process, gas atoms are produced. Those gas atoms tend to cluster together in the fuel to form bubbles, similar to the bubbles that accumulate in your stomach when you drink something carbonated. The more you drink, the more those bubbles grow and cause your stomach to feel bloated, until eventually they are released from your body in the form of a burp. Nuclear fuel does the same thing— as the bubbles in the fuel collect more gas atoms from fission, they start to grow, causing the fuel to swell. Eventually, those bubbles interconnect to form tunnels to the surface of the fuel for release, just like a burp.
Understanding how the gas atoms in the fuel behave leading up to these “burps” is essential for keeping nuclear reactors safe—if this gas release is not properly accounted for, it could lead to an over-pressurization and potential rupture of the fuel rod. Likewise, understanding how gas atoms behave in aging nuclear materials is crucial for stockpile stewardship. As a result, Kaylee’s research is centered around computationally modelling this gas atom behavior, and the role it plays in determining the onset of the fission gas release phenomenon in various nuclear fuel materials.
Publications
K. Cunningham, C. Matthews, M. Tonks, “Developing Mechanistic Three-Dimensional Fission Gas Release Threshold Curves for UO2 and UN”, oral presentation at the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting, April 7-11, 2025, Seattle, WA.
K. Cunningham, C. Matthews, "Modeling UN Fission Gas Release in BISON for Microreactor Applications," Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, 131 (2024) 561-565.
K. Cunningham, C. Matthews, "Developing 3D Fission Gas Release Thresholds for Microreactor Technology Development", poster presented at Summer 2024 LANL Student Poster Session, Los Alamos, NM, USA, July 31, 2024.
K. Cunningham, Modeling UO2 and UN Fuel Fission Gas Release Instances in BISON for Microreactor Applications [Master's Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. MIT Libraries. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155591
K.M. Cunningham, D. Wall, A. Aitkaliyeva, K. Burns, "Investigation of iron and bismuth doped carbon nanotubes with silicone in x-ray shielding capabilities," IYNC2022 Conference Proceedings, Nov. 27-Dec. 2, 2022.
I. Greenquist, K.M. Cunningham, J. Hu, J.J. Powers, D.C. Crawford, "Development of a U-19Pu-10Zr Fuel Performance Benchmark Case Based on the IFR-1 Experiment," Journal of Nuclear Materials, 553 (2021) 152997.
I. Greenquist, K.M. Cunningham, J. Hu, J.J. Powers, "A Metallic Fuel Performance Benchmark Problem Based on the IFR1 Experiment," poster presented at the 2020 Oak Ridge Postdoctoral Association (ORPA) Research Symposium at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA, July 21-22, 2020.
I. Greenquist, K.M. Cunningham, J. Hu, J.J. Powers, "A Metallic Fuel Performance Benchmark Problem Based on the IFR-1 Experiment," ORNL/TM-2020/1534, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, June 2020.
I. Greenquist, K. Cunningham, J. Hu, S. Morrison, J. Powers, D. Crawford, "Benchmarking BISON for VTR Driver Fuel," poster presented at the November 2019 Metallic Fuels Workshop hosted by the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, November 14-15, 2019.
K.M. Cunningham, J.J. Powers, R.A. Lefebvre, "Modeling the IFR-1 Metallic Fuel Experiment in Bison through the NEAMS Workbench," Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, 121 (2019) 1434-1437.
J.J. Powers, J. Hu, K.M. Cunningham, I. Greenquist, S.L. Morrison, S.R. Novascone, A. Casagranda, D.C. Crawford, "Initial efforts to benchmark Bison for VTR driver fuel analysis," presented at Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems(MiNES) 2019, Baltimore, MD, USA, October 2019.
K. Cunningham, R.A. Lefebvre, J. Powers, L.P. Miller, M.L. Baird, B.R. Langley, "NEAMS Workbench and Bison Fuel Performance Remote Application Configuration," ORNL/TM-2019/1208, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, September 2019.
K.M. Cunningham, J.J. Powers, R.A. Lefebvre, "Modeling the IFR-1 Experiment: A Bison Metallic Fuel Benchmark," ORNL/TM-2019/1270, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, July 2019.
K.M. Cunningham, J.J. Powers, R.A. Lefebvre, "NEAMS Workbench Applications: Modeling Metallic Fuel in Bison for Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) Development," poster presented at Summer 2019 NESLS Poster Session, Oak Ridge, TN, USA, August 7, 2019.
Awards
Fall 2022-Summer 2025, Graduate Fellow, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Fall 2024, 1st Place, American Nuclear Society, "Pitch Your PhD Thesis" Competition
Fall 2024, Invited Plenary Speaker, American Nuclear Society Radiation Protection and Safety Division Embedded Topical, Winter Meeting 2024
Fall 2024, Awardee, Thomson Reuters "Future Leaders in Energy 2024" List, https://1.reutersevents.com/LP=37588?extsource=future_leaders_sse
Summer 2024, 1st Place, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Student Poster Competition
Summer 2024, Invited Plenary Speaker, National Transportation Stakeholder Forum, Funded by North Wind Site Services and U.S. Department of Energy
Summer 2024, Fissionary Nuclear Energy Institute Podcast Feature, https://www.nei.org/news/2024/fissionary-episode-8-nuclear-all-stars
Spring 2024, Invited Plenary Speaker, Nuclear Energy Institute Policy Forum
Fall 2023, Invited Plenary Speaker, Wilton Park & Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, "Maximising benefits of peaceful nuclear uses: aligning nuclear security and development priorities"
Fall 2023, Invited Plenary Speaker, International Atomic Energy Agency, Atoms4NetZero Conference
Fall 2023, CBS News Boston Feature, https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/melrose-ms-nuclear-energy-tiktok-powermit-phd-student/
Fall 2023, Titans of Nuclear Podcast Feature, https://www.lastenergy.com/titansofnuclear/experts/kayleecunningham
Spring 2023, MIT News Student Spotlight, https://web.mit.edu/nse/news/spotlights/2023/kaylee-cunningham.html
Spring 2023, Nuclear News Magazine (American Nuclear Society) Feature
Spring 2023, TAE Good Clean Energy Podcast Feature, https://tae.com/explaining-nuclear-energy-to-the-tiktok-generationwith-kaylee-cunningham/
Spring 2023, Invited Plenary Speaker, American Nuclear Society Student Conference
2021-2022, Dean Joseph Weil Engineering Leadership Award, Attributes of a Gator Engineer Award, University of Florida, https://mse.ufl.edu/kaylee-cunningham-gator-engineer/
Spring 2021, Essay Finalist, International Atomic Energy Agency Youth Essay Competition
Spring 2021, Scholarship Recipient, Nuclear Energy University Program, Department of Energy
Summer 2020, Undergraduate Award Winner, Innovations in Nuclear Energy Research & Development Student
Competition, Department of Energy
Spring 2020, Scholarship Recipient, Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences, American Nuclear Society
Fall 2019, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Success Story News Feature, https://www.energy.gov/articles/ornl-successstory-kaylee-cunningham
Summer 2019, 1st Place, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Student Poster Competition
Summer 2019, 1st Place, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Ignite-Off Presentation Competition
Spring 2019, National Gallery for America's Young Inventors, Thomas Edison Award