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Updated: May 6, 2025 @ 10:54 am
Jordan Boyle
Megan Arnold
Wyatt Carnes
Jordan Boyle
Megan Arnold
Wyatt Carnes
Eight high school students representing four schools from Georgia and four schools from South Carolina have been awarded scholarships from Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness for outstanding essays on a nuclear topic.
The scholarship awards ranged from $500 to $1,000. Each student picked a topic ranging from the pros and cons of a central interim repository for spent nuclear fuel in the U.S.; the impacts of nuclear technology in medicine; or the role nuclear deterrence plays in our national security. They then wrote a 1,000- to 1,500-word essay on their chosen topic.
The winners of the 19th annual CNTA Essay Contest are:
$1,000 winners
• Jordan Boyle, Lake City High School, for “The Role of Nuclear Deterrence in Ensuring United States Security”
• Wyatt Carnes, Aiken Scholars Academy, for “Analysis of Various Nuclear Technologies in the Medical Industry”
• Blake Sommers, Greenbriar High School, for “Nuclear Radioisotopes: A Medical Perspective”
$750 winners
• Tripp Moyer, Midland Valley High School, for “Deterrence Defined: US Security in the Modern Era”
• Rhianna Waltower, Hephzibah High School, for “Beyond the Reactor: Spent Fuel Management”
$500 winners
• Jaxon Green, Academy of Richmond County, for “Nuclear Power: Balancing Innovation and Responsibility for Tomorrow’s Energy Needs”
• Coralyn Cairns, Lakeside High School, for “Nuclear Deterrence and Its Role in Modern Day America”
• Megan Arnold, North Augusta High School, for “Spent Nuclear Fuel”
“These students provided insightful and impressive perspective on the topics of nuclear deterrence, medicine, or energy,” Hamilton Molnar said. “It was exciting and encouraging to see the breadth of information the students included in their essays.”
Three of the awardees won a special award for writing on the topic of “Explain what spent nuclear fuel is and the pros and cons of the United States having one central interim repository for these materials.”
The contest was open to high school juniors and seniors across the state of South Carolina, and Burke, Columbia, and Richmond counties in Georgia; homeschool students; and students of CNTA member families. The winning students, their parents and school representative will be honored guests and recognized at an upcoming CNTA event later this year.
To read the winning essays or for information on the contest, visit cntaware.org.
CNTA is an Aiken-based charitable educational organization dedicated to providing facts about nuclear topics and educating the public on nuclear issues. For more information, call CNTA at 803-649-3456 or email office@bellsouth.net.
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