Name: Is There a Future for Nuclear Power?
Start: 2026-05-07T19:00:00-05:00
Location: Manitoba Museum

Featuring: Dr. Matthew Memmott & Dr Scott Kroeker (BIOS BELOW)
Location: Manitoba Museum Auditorium
Time: 7pm - 9pm
Cost: $10
Register: [email protected]
Free to Science First members
Featuring:
Dr. Matthew Memmott
PhD in Nuclear Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Associate professor in the chemical engineering department at Brigham Young University
Dr. Matthew Memmott will be presenting "Is There A Future For Nuclear Power?" Dr. Memmott is the founder and Senior Technical Advisor for Utah-based molten salt nuclear microreactor company Alpha Tech Research Corp, in cooperation with Brigham Young University. Dr. Memmott has extensive experience in the nuclear energy industry, including leading the reactor group at Westinghouse.

Alpha Tech Research Corp will be using the virtually corrosion-free salt they developed, which is now a commercial product. Alpha Tech Research Corp will eventually use thorium in their molten salt nuclear microreactor, which will lead to the development of bismuth-213 medical isotopes, the best isotopes for targeted alpha therapy (radiation treatment that kills only cancer cells and leaves healthy cells intact).
In addition, near the end of Alpha Tech Research Corp's website "Alpha Tech has developed a novel Continuous Electrochemical Extraction (CELEX) process that can efficiently convert nuclear waste into valuable products, including rare earth elements, medical isotopes, industrial isotopes, precious metals, and new fuel for advanced reactors. CELEX is an electrochemical, chemical, and pyroprocessing system with the flexibility to accept waste from both light water reactors and advanced metal and salt reactors. With appropriate approval and licensing, CELEX can close the fuel cycle to offer a truly clean and green circular economy."
Also featuring special guest Dr Scott Kroeker:
Professor of Chemistry, University of Manitoba Kroeker is a materials chemist specializing in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Following training in magnetic resonance imaging (B.Sc., University of Winnipeg), high-resolution NMR (M.Sc., University of Manitoba) and solid-state NMR (Ph.D., Dalhousie University), he did an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University before joining the U of M in 2001.
Kroeker's research program focuses on applications of glass ranging from nuclear waste immobilization to biologically active therapies. He serves on the International Commission on Glass, and was recently a visiting researcher at the Otto Schott Institut
für Materialforschung (Jena, Germany, 2022-23). His contributions to radioactive waste disposal include an EPSRC visiting fellowship at Cambridge University (Mineral Physics, 2007-08), partnership wth the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA, 2012), the International Advisory Board of the Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management, and membership in University Network of Excellence in Nuclear Engineering (UNENE).
He plays a prominent role in the Canadian NMR community as one of the founders of the National Ultrahigh-Field NMR Facility for Solids (Ottawa), the Manitoba Institute of Materials, and an advisory board member of the Canadian Journal of Chemistry.
Internationally, he is a review editor for Frontiers of Materials, and held a visiting professorship at Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS, France, 2014-15). He collaborates widely across disciplines, including geological sciences, agriculture,
engineering and physics.