ASSURING A FUTURE U.S.-BASED
Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise
Committee on Assuring a Future U.S.-Based Nuclear Chemistry Expertise
Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Board on Higher Education and Workforce
Division on Policy and Global Affairs
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under contract number DE-PI0000010, Task Order #18/DE-DT0002224; the National Science Foundation under grant number CHE-1049500; and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Nuclear Physics, and Office of Nuclear Energy, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Domestic Nuclear Detection Office Center under award number DE-PI0000010, Task Order# 12/DE-DT0001917.
The report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, express or implied, or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represent that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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Cover art: Images show the range of applications that utilize nuclear and radiochemistry expertise, clockwise from bottom right; nuclear energy (Cherenkov radiation), medical imaging (Positron Emission Tomography abdominal scan), nuclear security (atmospheric testing), and in the center, environmental management (chart of radionuclides).
Courtesy: Los Alamos National Laboratory Omega West reactor (Cherenkov radiation); Abdominal Imaging (Positron Emission Tomography scan); National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (atmospheric testing); and Brookhaven National Laboratory (chart of radionuclides).
Copyright 2012 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council
COMMITTEE ON ASSURING A FUTURE U.S.-BASED NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY EXPERTISE
Members
C. BRADLEY MOORE (Chair), University of California, Berkeley
CAROLYN J. ANDERSON, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TRISH BAISDEN, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
CAROL J. BURNS, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico
RONALD A. CHRZANOWSKI, Exelon Nuclear, Warrenville, Illinois
SUE B. CLARK, Washington State University, Pullman
RICHARD B. FREEMAN, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
HOWARD L. HALL, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
LESTER R. MORSS, University of Maryland, Columbia
GRAHAM PEASLEE, Hope College, Holland, Michigan
GEORGINE M. PION, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
HENRY VANBROCKLIN, University of California, San Francisco, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley
JOHN F. WACKER, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington
National Research Council Staff
Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director,
TINA M. MASCIANGIOLI, Responsible Staff Officer
AMANDA CLINE, Administrative Assistant
ANGELA OLSON, Christine Mirzayan S&T Policy Fellow (January-April 2011)
SHEENA SIDDIQUI, Associate Program Officer
RACHEL YANCEY, Senior Program Assistant
Other Boards
GAIL GREENFIELD, Senior Program Officer, Board on Higher Education and Workforce
MIRSADA KARALIC-LONCAREVIC, Senior Program Associate, Division on Earth and Life Studies Executive Office
HEIDI MURRAY-SMITH, Program Officer, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
KAMWETI MUTU, Research Associate, Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources
JAMES VOYTUCK, Senior Program Officer, Board on Higher Education and Workforce (retired)
BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
Members
PABLO DEBENEDETTI (Co-chair), Princeton University, New Jersey
C. DALE POULTER (Co-chair), University of Utah, Salt Lake City
ZHENAN BAO, Stanford University, California
ROBERT BERGMAN, University of California, Berkeley
HENRY BRYNDZA, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Delaware
EMILY CARTER, Princeton University, New Jersey
MARY JANE HAGENSON, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, LLC, The Woodlands, Texas
CAROL J. HENRY, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
JILL HRUBY, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
CHARLES E. KOLB, Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, Massachusetts
JOSEF MICHL, University of Colorado, Boulder
MARK A. RATNER, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
ROBERT E. ROBERTS, Institute for Defense Analyses, Washington, D.C.
DARLENE J. S. SOLOMON, Agilent Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, California
ERIK J. SORENSEN, Princeton University, New Jersey
JEAN TOM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, West Windsor, New Jersey
WILLIAM C. TROGLER, University of California, San Diego
DAVID WALT, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
National Research Council Staff
DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director
AMANDA CLINE, Administrative Assistant
DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN, Program Officer
KATHRYN HUGHES, Program Officer
TINA M. MASCIANGIOLI, Senior Program Officer
SHEENA SIDDIQUI, Associate Program Officer
RACHEL YANCEY, Senior Program Assistant
NUCLEAR RADIATION STUDIES BOARD
Members
JAY C. DAVIS (Chair), Hertz Foundation, Livermore, California
BARBARA J. MCNEIL (Vice Chair), Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
JOONHONG AHN, University of California, Berkeley
JOHN S. APPLEGATE, Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington
MICHAEL L. CORRADINI, University of Wisconsin-Madison
PATRICIA J. CULLIGAN, Columbia University, New York, New York
ROBERT C. DYNES, University of California, San Diego
JOE GRAY, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland
DAVID G. HOEL, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston
HEDVIG HRICAK, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York
THOMAS H. ISAACS, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
ANNIE B. KERSTING, Glenn T. Seaborg Institute, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California
MARTHA S. LINET, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
FRED A. METTLER, JR., New Mexico VA Health Care System, Albuquerque
BORIS F. MYASOEDOV, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
RICHARD VETTER, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (Retired)
RAYMOND G. WYMER, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (Retired)
National Research Council Staff
KEVIN CROWLEY, Senior Board Director
SARAH CASE, Senior Program Officer
JENNIFER HEIMBERG, Senior Program Officer
OURANIA KOSTI, Program Officer
TONI GREENLEAF, Financial and Administrative Associate
LAURA LLANOS, Financial and Administrative Associate
SHAUNTEE WHETSTONE, Senior Program Assistant
ERIN WINGO, Senior Program Assistant
BOARD ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE
Members
WILLIAM E. KIRWAN (Chair), University System of Maryland, Adelphi
F. KING ALEXANDER, California State University, Long Beach
SUSAN K. AVERY, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
CARLOS CASTILLO-CHAVEZ, Arizona State University, Tempe
JEAN-LOU CHAMEAU, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
RITA COLWELL, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
PETER EWELL, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, Boulder, Colorado
SYLVIA HURTADO, University of California, Los Angeles
WILLIAM KELLEY, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia
EARL LEWIS, Emory University, Druid Hills, Georgia
PAULA STEPHAN, Georgia State University, Atlanta
National Research Council Staff
PETER H. HENDERSON, Director
GAIL GREENFIELD, Senior Program Officer
SABRINA E. HALL, Program Associate
Preface
The critical U.S. need for nuclear and radiochemistry expertise in areas such as nuclear medicine, nuclear power, nuclear security, and radioactive waste clean-up and disposal, combined with a past decline in the number of students graduating in this field drove the request for this comprehensive examination of the current and anticipated supply and demand for expertise, including types and levels of skills, in the United States for medicine, energy, defense, and environment.
The Committee on Assuring a Future U.S.-Based Nuclear Chemistry Expertise was charged (Appendix A) with examining the demand for nuclear chemistry expertise in the United States compared with the production of experts with these skills, and to discuss possible approaches for ensuring adequate availability of these skills, including necessary science and technology training platforms.
The committee of 13 members (Appendix B) was convened from approximately January 2011 through December 2011, and met in person four times (Appendix C). Expertise included those with experience in nuclear and radiochemistry, including backgrounds in nuclear medicine, nuclear power, nuclear security, and environmental management and in research management, university administration, scientific workforce and training indicators, and development of advanced educational programs.
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Burt Barnow, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Bruce Bursten, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Jonathan R. D. Earnhart, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Wilmington, North Carolina
Charles Folden, Texas A&M, College Station
Graham Kalton, Westat, Inc., Rockville, Maryland
Annie Kersting, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California
Robert Latiff, R. Latiff Associates, Alexandria, Virginia
Paul Mantica, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Michael Phelps, University of California, Los Angeles
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Edward B. Perrin, University of Washington, Seattle, and Charles P. Casey, University
of Wisconsin, Madison. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Contents
Note about Data Collection for this Study
2 Defining Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise
Characteristics of Nuclear and Radiochemistry Experts
Research Activity of Nuclear and Radiochemists
Future Supply and Demand for Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise
3 Academic Basic Research and Education
Nuclear and Radiochemistry Academic Programs
A Brief History and Current Status of Nuclear Energy
Technical Needs and Workforce Considerations
Research and Educational Opportunities
8 Summary of Supply and Demand for Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise
9 Approaches to Assuring U.S. Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise
Nuclear Chemistry Summer Schools
Acronyms
AAAS | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
AAS | Associates of Applied Science Degree |
AAU | American Association of Universities |
ACA | Arms Control Association |
ACC | American Chemistry Council |
ACS | American Chemical Society |
ACTINET-I3 | European Commission Integrated Infrastructure Initiative for Actinide Science |
APS | American Physical Society |
ASTC | Association of Science and Technology Centers |
BER | Office of Biological and Environmental Remediation |
BES | U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences |
BLS | Bureau of Labor Statistics |
BNFL | British Nuclear Fuels Limited |
BNL | Brookhaven National Laboratory |
BTSI | Bio-tech Systems, Inc |
CAES | Center for Advanced Energy Studies |
CEA | Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives) |
CEGB | Central Electricity Generating Board |
CFEN | Council for Education and Training in Nuclear Energy (Conseil des Formations en Energie Nucléaire) |
CIP | Classification of Instructional Program |
CMS | Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services |
COREs | Centers of Research and Educations |
CRESP | Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation |
CRR | Centre for Radiochemistry Research |
CT | Computerized Axial Tomography |
CTBT | Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty |
CTBTO | Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization |
DATSD(NM) | Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Nuclear Matters) |
DGR | Directory of Graduate Research |
DHS | U.S. Department of Homeland Security |
DNCT | Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology |
DNDO | DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office |
DOD | U.S. Department of Defense |
DOE | U.S. Department of Energy |
DOE-EM | DOE Office of Environmental Management |
DOE-LM | DOE Office of Legacy Management |
DOE-NP | DOE Office of Nuclear Physics |
DSB | Defense Science Board |
DTC | Doctoral Training Centre |
DTRA | Defense Threat Reduction Agency |
EDF | Electricity of France (Electricité de France) |
EFRC | Energy Frontier Research Center |
EIA | Energy Information Administration |
EM | environmental management |
EPA | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
FDG | Fluorodeoxyglucose |
FDA | U.S. Food and Drug Administration |
FIU | Florida International University |
FRIB | Facility for Rare Isotope Beams |
GAO | Government Accountability Office |
HEGIS | Higher Education General Information Survey |
IAEA | International Atomic Energy Agency |
IMV | Medical Information Division |
INEST | Institute of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology |
INL | Idaho National Laboratory |
IOM | Institute of Medicine |
IPEDS | Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System |
IRP | integrated research projects |
ITWG | International Technical Working Group on Nuclear Smuggling |
IUP | integrated university program |
J-ACTINET | Japan Integrative Infrastructure Initiative for Actinide Science |
LANL | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
LEP | lifetime extension program |
LLNL | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
MARLAP | Multi-Agency Radiological Laboratory Analytical Protocols |
MRI | Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
MU | University of Missouri |
NAE | National Academy of Engineering |
NAMP | National Analytical Management Program |
NCES | National Center for Education Statistics |
NCSL | National Conference of State Legislatures |
NEI | Nuclear Energy Institute |
NEUP | Nuclear Energy University Program |
NIF | National Ignition Facility |
NIH | National Institutes of Health |
NNL | National Nuclear Laboratory |
NNSA | National Nuclear Security Administration |
NP | Office of Nuclear Physics |
NPT | Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty |
NRC | National Research Council |
NSAC | Nuclear Science Advisory Committee |
NSB | National Science Board |
NSF | National Science Foundation |
NSTC | National Science and Technology Council |
NTNF | National Technical Nuclear Forensics |
NTNFC | National Technical Nuclear Forensics Center |
NUCL | Global Nuclear Energy Index Fund |
OMB | Office of Management and Budget |
ORISE | Oak Ridge Institute for Scientific Education |
OTID | Office of Technology Innovation and Development |
PET | Positron Emission Tomography |
PQDT | ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database |
QMU | quantification of margins and uncertainties |
R&D | research and development |
RHIC | Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider |
RII | Radiochemistry and Imaging Instrumentation |
RPSC | Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Council |
SED | Survey of Earned Doctorates |
S&E | science and engineering |
SJSU | San José State University |
SNM | Society of Nuclear Medicine |
SOC | Standard Occupational Classifications |
SPECT | Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography |
SRS | Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences |
SSP | Stockpile Stewardship Program |
TNF | Technical Nuclear Forensics |
UKAEA | United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority |
USNRC | U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission |
WNA | World Nuclear Association |
WSU | Washington State University |