Reactor safety research involves programs in fluid mechanics and heat transfer aspects of multiphase flow (e.g. fuel coolant interactions, condensation heat transfer, and molten pool heat transfer with gas injection).

Current experiments in the various laboratories include investigations of condensation under natural convection at atmospheric and high pressure; fuel-coolant interactions in a cryogenic environment, in both injection and stratified geometries and on small and large scales; injection of gases and liquids into pools of molten metals; and dropping molten metals into water. Available equipment includes CW and pulsed lasers, flash and continuous X-ray sources, digital imaging systems for visible light and X-rays, the nuclear reactor and neutron radiography facility, and high-speed cinematography instrumentation.

Faculty members also collaborate with colleagues in the departments of mechanical engineering, civil and environmental engineering, and medical physics. These collaborations make several other facilities and equipment available to EP faculty and graduate students.