Two schools announced funding awards totaling $749,000 from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Tuesday to benefit nuclear education programs.Colorado State University announced grants worth about $600,000. According to a release from CSU, a grant will be used to hire a radiochemist researching the movement of radioactive materials in the environment. Another award will fund a new graduate statistics course that will address techniques to distinguish natural from man-made radioactivity.At the Idaho State University College of Technology, the NRC recently allocated $149,000 for student scholarships to be distributed this fall. Five new students and 13 continuing students will receive them, according to a university release. The funding will also pay for recipients to travel to internships and a nuclear conference in Florida.The NRC has awarded money to the school's Energy Systems Technology and Education Center three times since 2008. ESTEC started a nuclear operations technician program last fall with assistance from the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory.