Mark D. DeHart

Mark DeHart is a Senior Reactor Physicist and Directorate Fellow in the Nuclear Science and Technology Directorate at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). He currently leads a multiphysics analysis team performing simulations of SIRIUS fuel samples for nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) materials characterization; this team is also directly supporting NASA staff for full-core NTP transient simulations. He is also the conceptual design lead for potential replacement of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) after 2040 under the Strategic Thermal Irradiation Program. Over the past several years Dr. DeHart has led and directed a team of reactor physicists and computational methods staff performing applied multiphysics methods for numerous reactor types, including the ATR, the Transient Test Reactor (TREAT) and advanced reactor concepts including micro-reactor, graphite reactor, molten salt reactor and nuclear thermal propulsion design concepts. He has also led three Laboratory Directed Research & Development projects and participated in several others in projects related to reactor physics methods. DeHart joined INL in 2010 from Oak Ridge national Laboratory (ORNL) to assume a leadership role in reactor physics methods and applications. During 17 years at ORNL, Dr. DeHart worked in both methods and analysis related to criticality safety, burnup credit, data validation, and reactor physics. He is the primary author of the NEWT lattice physics code and the TRITON depletion sequence within the SCALE code system and led development of modern lattice physics methods at ORNL. Prior to ORNL, Dr. DeHart worked at the Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) supporting K-Reactor restart physics; he completed his PhD at WSRC in work related to K-Reactor lattice physics. Dr. DeHart has extensive experience in reactor physics, multiphysics, criticality safety, depletion and spent fuel characterization, cross-section processing, and computer code verification and validation.