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CORVALLIS, Ore. - U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham has named Oregon State University as a lead university at one of four consortia of universities across the country that will share $5.5 million in the first year as part of the administration's newly unveiled Innovations in Nuclear Infrastructure and Education (INIE) program.

OSU and the University of California-Davis will lead the Western Nuclear Science Alliance, or WNSA, which also includes Washington State University, the University of California-Berkeley, and six national laboratories.

The OSU activities will be led by the OSU Radiation Center and the OSU Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics.

The WNSA proposal calls for an average support from the Department of Energy of $1.8 million per year for a minimum of five years. The grant will be used to make new investments in OSU's research reactor and nuclear engineering program, and to establish strategic partnerships with regional universities, national laboratories, and industry.

"This award signifies the Department of Energy's recognition of the strength and high quality of the research activities by the OSU Radiation Center and of the educational programs conducted in the OSU Department of Nuclear Engineering," said Andrew C. Klein, head of OSU's Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics. "It also recognizes the importance of the alliance of universities, national labs, and industries in the western U.S. that are involved in the WNSA in the education of future nuclear scientists and engineers."

OSU co-principal investigators for the project are Klein, Stephen Binney, and Steve Reese.

The INIE program is established on the basis of recommendations of the DOE's independent advisory committee - the Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee. This group has expressed concern about the ability of the nation to respond to the growing demand for trained experts in nuclear science and technology in the face of financial and other challenges affecting engineering programs and research reactor facilities at American universities over the last decade.