Learning real-world nuclear engineering at Aalo Atomics

Before his senior year, nuclear engineering student Daniel Nelson spent his fall gaining real-world experience with groundbreaking nuclear reactor technology during an internship with Texas-based company Aalo Atomics.

Nelson was interested in an internship with Aalo because they have recently made great strides with small modular reactors (SMRs), an area of interest for him. They have designed and plan to build Aalo Pods, which are 50-megawatt modular reactors that can be placed together into a more powerful reactor system.

“I was ecstatic when they chose me for the internship,” he said. “I told my mom and dad immediately and couldn’t stop smiling all day.” 

As an intern at Aalo, Nelson was a “jack-of-all-trades,” getting involved in various tasks like material science, systems engineering and regulatory work. He even helped work with parts manufacturers, which he never expected.

His favorite aspect of the job was working with computer modeling and simulations of neutronics, or the way neutrons move and interact with materials. He related it to the trial-and-error experience of working with the CASMO software in an upper-level nuclear engineering class, which was similar to the software he used at Aalo.

“It was very fulfilling to work for hours and finally get it right at the end,” he said.

The internship required Nelson to temporarily move to Idaho Falls, Idaho, where Aalo is building a test reactor near Idaho National Laboratory. After having lived in Texas since he was young, it was a big adjustment for Nelson, as was his first experience working in an office rather than going to a classroom. But this internship provided him with valuable real-world experience outside of school.

“Moving away for the first time was my biggest challenge,” he said. “That’s more personal than professional, but that was a new experience for me.”

The internship taught Nelson that there’s still so much to learn about the industry, and that it’s a big step from classwork to professional work. 

“I learned there’s still a lot of stuff that I don’t know, and that I’m not going to know until I gain some experience,” he said. “I’m excited to get my hands dirty, so to speak, and just go do it.”