During his time at DEI, Mr. Burkardt has focused on materials aging and environmental degradation issues in the nuclear power industry. Specifically, he has worked on development and application of probabilistic fracture mechanics codes, performed crack growth calculations, analyzed crack growth rate data to develop disposition curves, and assessed the potential for material degradation based on plant operating experience. Since 2014, he has also supported various aspects of the xLPR (Extremely Low Probability of Rupture) project. Mr. Burkardt has also been a key technical contributor to several Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) documents related to peening mitigation. One of these documents is cited by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as a technical basis for extending inspection intervals for Alloy 600/82/182 components mitigated by peening.

Mr. Burkardt has provided on-site consulting services at several U.S. and international nuclear power plants, supporting the delivery and operation of DEI’s high efficiency ultrasonic fuel cleaning technology, as well as DEI’s external ultrasonic energy cleaning for piping hot spot mitigation. He has also worked on deployment of indoor positioning systems which can be coupled with other environmental sensors, such as radiation monitoring devices for passive dose rate mapping. Mr. Burkardt is also a dynamic measurement specialist, performing various laboratory tests to characterize dynamic systems using fiber optic displacement sensors, piezoelectric devices, or hydrophones.

Mr. Burkardt holds a B.S. in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University. Prior to joining DEI, Mr. Burkardt worked as an undergraduate research assistant and undergraduate teaching assistant at Cornell University. He also worked at Harvard University as part of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.