Abstract

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a multi-purpose, multi-discipline Department of Energy laboratory operated by UT-Battelle for the Office of Science. Its origins were in the Manhattan Project during World War II and over the past seventy years of existence, its scope and mission has evolved with the changing world. ORNL is a recognized leader in neutron science, nuclear engineering, radiochemistry, material science, computational science, energy efficiency, and environmental sciences. The ORNL Nonproliferation Safeguards & Security (NS&S) Program Office, by utilizing the laboratory’s science and technology base, supports the nuclear nonproliferation mission of the U.S. Government.  A brief overview of the laboratory, a description of the NS&S portfolio, as well as some of ORNL’s nuclear forensics activities will be highlighted.

Speaker Bios

Dr. Jeffrey O. Johnson is the Director of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) for the Global Security Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Jeff’s role is the integration of ORNL’s capabilities, resources and facilities into a coordinated R&D program with the goal of providing practical technologies and systems for the detection, characterization, and control of nuclear and radiological materials. An additional component of Jeff’s position is focused on maximizing the efficacy of ORNL R&D efforts by building collaborations with other national laboratories, universities, industrial partners, end users, and sponsoring organizations.

The nuclear threat initiative cross-cuts multiple nonproliferation mission areas including; (1) safeguards, (2) special nuclear material movement, detection, and characterization, (3) pre-detonation nuclear forensics, (4) treaty verification and warhead monitoring, (5) post-detonation nuclear forensics, and (6) consequence management.

Jeff received a B.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1978, a M.S. in Nuclear Engineering in 1980, and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering in 1987, all from the University of Tennessee - Knoxville.  Jeff has forty years of experience in nuclear engineering and radiation transport analyses associated with shield design and effectiveness for terrestrial and space-based systems, radiation transport methodology development, accelerator target station design, radiation detector design and analyses, and national security related research and development.  Over the course of his career at ORNL, Jeff has functioned as a research and development staff member, lead technical integrator for projects, team leader, group leader, project/program manager for multiple programs, and a business developer/relationship manager.

Larry Satkowiak is the director of Nonproliferation, Safeguards & Security Programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. As director, he leads the laboratory’s nonproliferation and nuclear safeguards and security efforts and is the primary interface with multiple sponsoring agencies.  He serves on several international committees focusing on the safeguarding and nonproliferation of nuclear materials and nuclear weapons.  Larry is a Senior Fellow and currently serves as the immediate past President of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, an international professional society focused on safe, secure and effective management of nuclear materials. He is active in the American Nuclear Society and American Physical Society, again focusing on issues surrounding nuclear proliferation.

Dr. Satkowiak received his B.S. in Physics and Applied Mathematics and his M.S. degree in Experimental Nuclear Physics from Western Michigan University, and his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from the University of Notre Dame.

Sponsored by the Actinide Center of Excellence