DURHAM (AP) — Three historically Black colleges have received $3 million to use in developing devices that can find defects in nuclear facilities as they age.

According to a news release from N.C. Central University in Durham, the National Nuclear Security Administration awarded the money to N.C. Central, Elizabeth City State University and Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Principal investigator Abdennaceur Karoui is leading a group of research teams comprised of faculty and students from the three schools.

The NCCU team will examine alloys for a composition that is light, but can withstand the impact of nuclear radiation.

Students in the program will have the opportunity to study machine learning research for materials sciences, and they will be given the chance to do summer research at national laboratories.