A national organization concerned with the operational safety of nuclear power plants and funded by nuclear power utilities recently awarded Daniel S. Hsieh '85 a $1500 scholarship for academic achievement and an essay proposing a solution to the energy crisis.

Hsieh said yesterday that as an immediate solution to the energy shortage, he supports the use of coal and nuclear fission--the process employed in most nuclear power plants around the world--while in the long run he favors the development of nuclear fusion, which would drastically reduce the amount of waste generated by nuclear plants.

"We should use fission and coal to lessen our dependence on imported oil, and at the same time, we should try and develop fusion energy as a future energy source," said Hsieh, who received the scholarship in July.

One of 159 undergraduates to win the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) scholarship for students interested in careers in the nuclear power industry, Hsieh said he plans to major in electrical engineering.

Nuclear power utilities created INPO after the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island, to help increase the safety of nuclear plants, a spokesman for the group said yesterday.

"We are not a lobby for nuclear power," Emily K. Russ, communications director for INPO, said. She added that the group is a non-profit, independent organization dedicated strictly to "enhancing the operational safety" of nuclear power.