Dr. Robert O'Brien

Director, USRA Center for Space Nuclear Research

University of Idaho

Dr. Robert C. O'Brien serves as USRA’s Director of the Center for Space Nuclear Research and is an adjunct Professor at the University of Idaho. Dr. O’Brien is a subject matter expert in advanced space power, propulsion and energy utilization technologies including nuclear systems testing, as well as in-situ resource utilization, material extraction, and manufacturing science and engineering. Prior to joining USRA, Dr. O’Brien led special reactor concept projects, advanced nuclear instrumentation, nuclear fuels, national and international projects, and initiatives at Idaho National Laboratory for NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Defense.

Dr. O'Brien led the development of Advanced Manufacturing capabilities for DOE including first-of-a-kind capabilities to utilize electric Field Assisted Sintering Techniques (eFAST) and was responsible as architect of capabilities at INL's Materials and Fuels Complex Advanced Fuels Facility for the first experiments and production of nuclear reactor fuels using 3D Printing techniques. As Principal Investigator under the DOE Transient Testing Program, Dr. O'Brien served as part of the TREAT Reactor Restart Project (2012-2018) and led some of the first modern experiments in TREAT as Principal Investigator of the NASA SIRIUS Testing campaign (testing Space Nuclear Propulsion Program fuels under hydrogen at temperatures up to 3000 K). Prior to his experience within the DOE laboratory system, Dr. O'Brien’s early career was as a researcher at the University of Leicester Space Research Center where he initiated assessments for a UK - European solution for radioisotope power, and the use of 241-Am as a heat source fuel; performing early americium oxide-cermet encapsulation experiments.

Dr. O'Brien holds a Masters of Physics with Space Science & Technology from the University of Leicester (2006), and a PhD in Physics Research from the University of Leicester (2010). He was nominated Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society 2008. Dr. O'Brien holds multiple patents and patents pending in advanced nuclear fuel, Directed Energy, ceramic processing, ballistic materials, nuclear and non-nuclear feedstock processing.

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