The Future is Bright

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By Paul Menser for INL Communications

Now in its third year, the Bright Future in Energy Scholarship competition is now open to 11th- and 12th-grade students interested in pursuing a postsecondary education and career focused on nuclear energy, the environment or protecting our nation’s critical infrastructure from cyberattacks. With funding provided by Battelle Energy Alliance, INL expects to award a total of $25,000 in scholarships to winners and runners-up.

Participating students will research one of three science-related prompts and prepare a virtual presentation for an expert panel of INL judges during the week of Feb. 13-17. To be considered, students should submit their application by Feb. 8.

2022 WINNERS

Coast to coast, 21 students entered the competition – up from four in 2021 – making virtual presentations to a panel of INL judges. The winners were:

1) TOP SCHOLAR: Claire Yoo, Idaho Falls High School, Idaho Falls, Idaho; $12,000
2) RUNNER-UP: Jonathan Zhang, Central Bucks West High School, Doylestown, Pennsylvania; $6,500
3) RUNNER-UP: Chase Crawford, Mountain View High School, Meridian, Idaho; $6,500

Claire Yoo
Responding to the question about rare earth elements, Claire Yoo, a junior at Idaho Falls High School, developed a “three R’s” hypothesis – recycle, reevaluate and replace – for her presentation. A regular reader of The Economist, Yoo chose to focus on extraction and supply chain issues.

“It’s a super-dirty process,” she said. “There’s not a great way to handle the waste that comes from it. We need to start recycling rare earths on a wide scale. That would address a long-term problem.”

While concluding that there are no simple solutions, she concluded a net-zero future is possible by fully considering future impacts on people, wildlife and the environment. Yoo said she appreciates the opportunity for a scholarship, and the fact that young women like herself are being encouraged more than ever to pursue STEM studies.

With her senior year still ahead of her, Yoo is thinking hard about college “somewhere on the East Coast. Ideally, I’d like to go to Harvard,” she said.

Jonathan Zhang
Jonathan Zhang, a junior at Central Bucks West High School, set out to compare the risks and benefits of different energy sources. Although he was favorably disposed toward nuclear energy, he wasn’t out to judge winners and losers. “It shouldn’t be about picking the best clean energy source,” he said. After reviewing information from 28 different sources, however, “I found there were a lot more benefits to nuclear than I realized,” he said. “Nuclear was a lot better than I thought it was. It’s a clean, reliable energy source.”

Chase Crawford
Chase Crawford, a junior at Mountain View High School outside Boise, said he went into his project believing nuclear energy is essential to a net-zero energy future, but that his research gave him a much firmer handle on the argument. “I’ve always thought nuclear science and energy were interesting,” he said. “I’d read a little bit, but I’d never gone this far in depth.” His presentation, “The Future of Nuclear Energy,” offered some conclusions, including that nuclear energy is essential to a realistic, economically viable net-zero future.

“It’s encouraging to see so many students engaged in these important issues,” INL Director John Wagner said. “By participating in this competition, these juniors and seniors gain a deeper understanding of how clean, secure and reliable energy changes lives. Given the quality of submissions we have received in the past, I am confident our world is in good hands.”

For more information or to apply, visit stem.inl.gov.
Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy