ORISE: Delivering Agile Mission Solutions for DOE to Strengthen and Secure America

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education

Delivering AgileMission Solutions forDOE to Strengthen andSecure America

Managed by ORAU for the U.S. Department of Energy


Delivering Agile Mission Solutions for DOE to Strengthen and Secure America

An Impact Report, 1992-2013

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) is a U.S. Department of

Energy (DOE) asset. ORISE is committed to strengthening the U.S. scientific research

and education enterprise to enhance global competitiveness, building public trust and

confidence in the management of worker and public health and environmental cleanup

initiatives, and enhancing our nation’s preparedness to respond to emergencies related

to terrorist incidents, natural disasters, and other health and security threats. ORISE is

managed for DOE by ORAU.

ORAU provides innovative scientific and technical solutions to advance national

priorities in science, health, education and national security. Through specialized

teams of experts, unique laboratory capabilities and access to a consortium of more

than 100 major Ph.D.-granting institutions, ORAU works with federal, state, local and

commercial customers to advance national priorities and serve the public interest. A

501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and federal contractor, ORAU manages ORISE for

DOE.

ISBN: 978-0-9890502-1-0

Copyright © 2013 by ORAU.

This report was published by ORAU using corporate funds and was developed by the

ORAU Communications and Marketing Department.

Director

Pam Bonee

Contributing Writers

Becki Hopson

Nicole Merrifield

Amy Schwinge

Wendy West

Designers

Mark Sieger

Melanie Shedlock


Delivering Agile Mission Solutions for DOE to Strengthen and Secure America

An Impact Report, 1992-2013

Edited by

Pam BoneeDirector, ORAU Communications and Marketing

Wendy WestManaging Editor, ORAU Communications and Marketing

ORAU 13-0602

Select Acronyms

AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science ANSI American National Standards Institute ARRA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act CBD chronic beryllium disease CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CER Center for Epidemiologic Research CHRS Center for Human Reliability StudiesCOMPETES Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology,

Education and Science DHHS Department of Health and Human Services DHS Department of Homeland Security DOE Department of Energy DOJ Department of JusticeDTPA Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic EEOICPA Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act EERE [Office of] Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy EPA Environmental Protection Agency ETTP East Tennessee Technology Park GLOBE Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment HBCU/MEI historically black college and university/minority education institution IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency LANL Los Alamos National Laboratory LPT lymphocyte proliferation test MARSSIM Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NIH National Institutes of Health NIOSH National Institute for Occupational Safety and HealthNNSA National Nuclear Security Administration NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationNRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission NSF National Science Foundation OMB Office of Management and BudgetORAU Oak Ridge Associated Universities ORISE Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory REAC/TS Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site RF radio frequency [engineer] SCGF [Office of] Science Graduate Fellowship SNS Spallation Neutron Source START Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty STEM science, technology, engineering and mathematics SWAT special weapons and tactics UNIRIB University Radioactive Ion Beam [Consortium] (formerly UNISOR)UNISOR University Isotope Separator at Oak RidgeVPP [DOE] Voluntary Protection Program WMD weapons of mass destruction

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Table of Contents

Foreword .............................................................................................................................................4

Introduction .......................................................................................................................................6

Alignment of Missions ....................................................................................................................10

Timeline of ORISE Impacts and Influencing Factors .................................................................12

The Early 1990s (1992-1994) ...............................................................................................13

The Mid 1990s (1995-1997) ................................................................................................29

The Late 1990s (1998-1999) ................................................................................................43

The Early 2000s (2000-2002) ...............................................................................................55

The Mid 2000s (2003-2005) ................................................................................................69

The Late 2000s (2006-2009) ................................................................................................87

The Early 2010s (2010-2013) .............................................................................................113

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Foreword

Experience has shown that our nation’s prosperity is best realized when we effectively

capitalize on opportunities that strengthen U.S. competitiveness, whether building

a strong scientific and technical workforce, investing in research and development,

or improving the wellbeing of our citizens and the environment. Although this is an

enduring strategy for success, our nation must also continually combat threats to our basic

freedoms and security and address health and environmental consequences of scientific

research, pursuits of economic growth, or even changes in the natural world. This can

result in a national agenda that often changes dramatically over time as the government

strives to keep the U.S. progressing at a steady pace, even when we must divert national

resources to respond effectively to unforeseeable events.

To balance this, the government relies on consistent performance through mission-

focused strategies as it also tries to be nimble and responsive when national and world

events dictate. The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), officially

established in 1992, is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) asset that delivers agile

solutions to strengthen and secure our nation in this dynamic environment.

For the past four years, it has been an honor and a privilege for me to serve as director

of ORISE. When I first stepped into this role in 2009, I already knew I would be leading

something distinctive. I had been with ORAU since 1999 when I was brought on as a

project manager for ORISE national security and emergency management programs. It

was a time of great uncertainty in our country as we faced a significant rise in terrorism.

During those ten years, I saw first-hand that the greatest strength of ORISE is its ability to

transform and leverage diverse capabilities, develop and integrate new skills, and provide

an expedient response when called upon.

This retrospective report illustrates 20 years of positive impact that ORISE has had on

DOE’s mission accomplishment and support of the national agenda. An introductory

section provides historical context and demonstrates the early foundations of and need

for ORISE, as well as how it was expanded and strengthened over time by DOE. A 20-

year timeline provides evidence of how, as world events and national priorities changed

through time, DOE’s missions aligned with those needs, and ORISE provided an agile and

integrated response to the agency and the federal government.

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Looking to the future, ORISE is already

supporting a new DOE strategic plan, key

priorities from Energy Secretary Ernest

Moniz, and extended focus areas and new

approaches from the national labs. We will

closely partner with DOE and other federal

agencies to determine how to apply the diverse

capabilities of ORISE to further support those

emerging priorities and strategies.

As you read this report, you’ll see how the

need for ORISE was apparent from the

beginning. Today, the value of ORISE is

still clear. As long as there are significant

challenges and opportunities in ensuring our

nation’s prosperity, ORISE will be an enduring

asset for accomplishing DOE’s mission and

addressing changing national priorities.

Andy Page

ORISE Director

ORAU President and CEO

5

Introduction

One moment in time, one event, one discovery can change the course of history and

affect the pace, progress, and potential of the human experience.

In the first half of the twentieth century, that one moment came in the form of splitting

an atom and harnessing its energy to provide the U.S. with a strategic advantage in an

increasingly devastating world war.

This would strengthen the U.S. position as a super power and put the country on a path

to innumerable scientific and technological innovations that would both enhance and

challenge our environment, health, security and economic prosperity.

From those early days, the idea that science could propel the U.S. to the top on a global

scale would fuel government interest and investment in that pursuit. ORISE would

eventually be a key part of that strategy.

The Foundations of ORISE

Shortly after World War II, the need for an increased focus on science and education

became apparent. As a result of the Manhattan Project and harnessing the atom for a new

kind of weapon, DOE (known as the Atomic Energy Commission at the time) launched

an aggressive mission and an expansive complex of laboratories and research programs

to explore and expand upon this new science. With this network of scientific labs and

research facilities also came the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained from this

effort to the higher education community.

At the height of the war, researchers and engineers had left their universities to contribute

to the research and scientific knowledge that fueled the making of nuclear weapons at the

government’s world-class facilities. After the war, many went back to their universities

with the knowledge that these research facilities existed and that their area of study had

changed dramatically with the development of this new technology.

During this time, ORAU (originally called the Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies)

began working to link universities with the tremendous scientific assets born out of

the Manhattan Project. Clinton Laboratories (today known as Oak Ridge National

Laboratory) was in the “backyard” of many southern universities, including the

University of Tennessee, and ORAU closely partnered with DOE to provide postdoctoral

training courses and other science education opportunities for university students,

faculty and researchers at facilities like ORNL. They performed research alongside the

laboratory’s scientists in DOE facilities on groundbreaking discoveries that further

transformed the field of science.

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As ORAU and DOE developed more cohesive programs to bring academic researchers

and laboratory scientists together for mutually beneficial collaborations, the early

foundations for an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) were being

formed. These research participation programs promoted the influx of new ideas and

skills into the laboratories in support of the DOE mission, complemented and extended

traditional academic research and training programs, and enhanced interactions between

the academic community and federal researchers.

The Establishment of ORISE

Even though World War II had ended, the world became engaged in a decades-long Cold

War and nuclear arms race among the world super powers, and DOE continued to design

and produce nuclear weapons for years. At the same time, with the growing collaboration

between academia and laboratory scientists, the promise of breakthroughs in nuclear

fission were being realized in our national laboratories for experimental nuclear energy

production and use of radionuclides for other research applications.

Nuclear power plants were built across the U.S. to address increased energy demands.

Nuclear medicine became a growing field in the quest to cure cancer and treat other

diseases. Research programs continued to grow with academic and federal researchers

increasingly performing experiments with controlled nuclear reactions. While there were

many positive uses of this science, the resulting environmental and health impacts as well

as the potential criticality safety issues were not clear at the time.

As the 1980s began, however, DOE created programs to address human and

environmental risks from nuclear weapons and power production. Waste management

often had been secondary to weapons production from the early 1940s through the

1960s. But, as the Cold War thawed and the production of large-scale nuclear weapons

declined in the 1970s and 1980s, cleanup of contaminated facilities became a focus.

Reactor accidents at Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986 changed the

public’s perception of radiation safety. As a result, the U.S. government generated more

waste management legislation and funding for DOE and the NRC to address emerging

environmental and occupational safety and health issues.

ORAU began developing and integrating new capabilities over time to meet national

priorities and support DOE in environmental cleanup verification, worker and public

health, scientific and technical peer review, radiation emergency medicine, and technical

training. In 1992, DOE officially established the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and

Education, recognizing this expertise and continuing in partnership with ORAU to

manage it.

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The Expansion of ORISE

With the Cold War over and national priorities shifting, DOE began expanding ORISE to

support a wide range of changing needs. Worker exposure to workplace hazards, cleanup

of contaminated facilities, nuclear safety issues, and continual challenges in the U.S. quest

to remain on top in science and technology globally, all demanded effective action from

the government.

ORISE provided expertise for major epidemiological health surveillance and mortality

studies of workers exposed to radiation through years of weapons-making and other

nuclear energy and research operations. ORISE also built a strong reputation for

providing characterization and independent verification of environmental cleanup

initiatives in support of DOE’s efforts to begin downsizing its nuclear weapons complex.

In addition, ORISE provided evaluations of nuclear facilities and developed customized

technical training programs to address the safety of nuclear operations and prevention

of nuclear criticality accidents at DOE and NRC facilities. And, as the focus of these

facilities continued to dramatically shift toward more technological innovation and

groundbreaking scientific research across a broad range of fields, ORISE began placing a

steady stream of students into an ever-increasing number of research participation and

science education programs. This helped to create a pipeline of talent to ensure the next

generation of U.S. scientists and engineers at our national laboratories.

In the mid-to-late 90s, and especially after September 11, 2001, the threat of terrorism

against the U.S. was significant and increasing. News stories reported on bombings of U.S.

embassies and U.S. military ships abroad. Domestically, devastating terrorist incidents

fueled the public’s demand for swift retaliation against enemies of our country. As a result,

DOE established an ORISE national security program, which began assisting efforts for

furthering U.S. terrorism preparedness and response.

The Impact of ORISE

With this breadth and diversity of capabilities under a single contract, ORISE offers

DOE and the federal government a single source for integrated solutions for mission

accomplishment. Whether supporting the national agenda, delivering a deliberate strategy

or addressing unplanned events or crises, ORISE brings consistently high-performing

capabilities to bear on the issue at hand and provides agility to DOE in responding to

needs, both national and international in scope.

The impact of ORISE has been both broad and deep, including:

• More than 55,000 faculty and student research experiences at national laboratories and

federal research centers

• Scientific peer reviews supporting more than $5 billion annually in potential research

awards

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• High-quality technical training and certification for more than 40,000 DOE, contractor

and grantee employees

• Decontamination verification at more than 500 sites in 42 states

• Health assessment and registries of more than 1.5 million energy workers

• Nuclear security support and training in more than 20 countries

• Multiple awards and commendations for safety, environmental responsibility,

operational excellence and quality including: two Hammer Awards, a Tennessee

Quality Commitment Awards, a Tennessee Quality Achievement Award, an Energy

Quality Champion Award, VPP Star Site safety designation, two consecutive VPP

Legacy of Stars Awards, ISO-14001 registration for environmental excellence, a

Facility Management Contractor Small Business Diversity Achievement Award, a U.S.

Small Business Administration Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence in Small

Business Subcontracting, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold-level

certification, and numerous DOE Secretarial Honor Awards.

In the pages that follow, an extensive timeline provides a detailed look at this impact over

the past twenty years since ORISE was officially established. The activities highlighted are

evidence of how, as national and international events unfolded and the U.S. government,

DOE and other federal agencies responded, ORISE provided valuable and integrated

support in a number of key areas.

The Future of ORISE

As long as there is research, there will be environmental, health and economic

consequences. ORISE supports this with environmental assessments, robust worker health

programs, and independent peer review of research proposals, building public trust and

confidence in the government’s efforts to address them.

As long as there is political, military or religious unrest in the world, there will be threats

of terrorism and a need to prepare our country for an effective national security response.

ORISE supports this with comprehensive national security and emergency management

training, radiation emergency response capabilities and forensic science services.

As long as we are dependent on foreign countries for oil and other resources, the need

for U.S. energy independence, alternative energy sources and a strong energy workforce

becomes more critical. As long as U.S. leadership in science and energy is challenged,

a need for scientific literacy, science education and improved knowledge of STEM

disciplines is urgent. ORISE supports this by filling the pipeline with next-generation

scientists and engineers and providing them with meaningful science education and

research participation experiences.

DOE is well positioned and prepared to support the United States in its efforts to maintain

global leadership in science as well as respond effectively to a wide range of threats to

our national security. ORISE is and will continue to be a key part of DOE’s strategy for

tackling these challenges and opportunities.

9

ORISE capabilities align with DOE missions and support critical national priorities

Key domestic and international events

continually shape and influence our

national agenda. As the government devises

strategies and programs to address critical

issues and emerging needs, responsibility

is driven down to federal agencies, such as

DOE, private sector entities, and academia

to take action. In support of DOE mission

accomplishment, ORISE has developed

diverse, yet integrated, capabilities to provide

scientific and technical solutions to these

challenges and opportunities.

Critical National Priorities

• Global leadership in science

• Knowledge and workforce development

• International emergency response

• National and nuclear security

• Radiation and operational safety

• Energy and environmental stewardship

• Worker and public health

• Operational excellence and efficiencies

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Key DOE Missions

• Transforming the nation’s energy system and leading in clean energy technologies

• Finding scientific and technological solutions to the most complex and pressing challenges

• Enhancing nuclear safety and security and environmental responsibility

ORISE Capabilities

• Strengthening the U.S. scientific research and education enterprise, particularly in energy and the STEM fields to enhance global competitiveness

• Building public trust and confidence in the management of worker and public health and environmental cleanup initiatives

• Enhancing our nation’s preparedness to respond to emergencies related to terrorist incidents, natural disasters, and other health and security threats

11

Timeline of ORISE Impacts and Influencing Factors

Timeline of ORISE Impacts and Influencing Factors

The Early 1990s

In the early nineties, the Soviet Union had collapsed, the first Gulf War was beginning, and the Cold War and nuclear weapons race had ended. U.S. President George H.W. Bush had signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles.

From decades of sustained global focus on nuclear weapons had come many benefits including new energy technologies, improved use of radiation for medical treatments, increased awareness of medical effects of radiation exposure, and improved methods of environmental remediation and radiation research science.

The first Energy Policy Act was enacted in 1992, assisting in implementation of a national energy strategy. Scientists around the world were working to map the human genome to advance medicine and health sciences research. STEM education was also increasingly promoted by NSF, AAAS and other entities as important for maintaining U.S. global leadership in science. With active nuclear weapons production diminishing, DOE started to focus more on reducing its footprint of weapons production facilities and expanding its cleanup activities. As the agency began to fully realize the outcomes of decades of nuclear weapons-making, DOE also significantly increased its efforts in strengthening national nuclear security and addressing its worker health concerns. DOE continued to place paramount importance on enhancing its scientific research capabilities and investing in the education of the next generation of scientists and engineers. And with a new president in the White House by 1993, the Clinton administration was ramping up the Climate Change Action Plan, which established a goal to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000.

As the country focused on a new era of science education, energy and environmental stewardship and breakthroughs in health, the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City occurred, sparking a new threat—terrorism—that would eventually change our country’s focus dramatically.

To provide integrated support to achieve these varied missions and help the agency address these critical national needs, DOE officially established the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE).

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THE EARLY1990s

1992-1994

1995-1997

1998-1999

2000-2

002

2003-2005 2006-20

09

2010-2013

The events along this timeline demonstrate how DOE responded to and ORISE supported key national priorities. Accomplishments addressed needs in or strengthened opportunities for:

Energy and Environmental Stewardship

Global Leadershipin Science

InternationalEmergency Response

Knowledge and Workforce Development

National andNuclear Security

Operational Excellence and Efficiencies

Radiation andOperational Safety

Worker andPublic Health

1992

ORISE officially created,annual budget $75M

1992 - ORISE was officially created as a DOE institute with an operating budget of $75 million and encompassing programs long-managed for DOE by ORAU in science education, training, environmental and occupational health. Dr. James Drewry was appointed director of ORISE.

1992 - ORISE Cytogenetic Program began using the technique of chromosome painting—a method born out of DOE’s Human Genome Program—to identify areas of chromosome damage potentially caused by radiation or chemicals.

1992 - Energy Secretary James Watkins testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that for the first time since 1945 the United States was not building any nuclear weapons.

1992

1992 - Four new ORISE fellowship programs began their first year of appointments: Graduate Fellowships for Global Change Program, Global Change Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, Human Genome Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowships, and Industrial Hygiene Fellowship Program.

Beryllium Program began

1992 - ORISE Beryllium Program began with 7,429 current Y-12 workers surveyed for beryllium exposure, 3,000 of which were identified for medical monitoring. Seven former Y-12 workers had already been diagnosed with chronic beryllium disease.

Photo Credit: Y-12

7,429 Number of Y-12 workers surveyed for beryllium exposure, 7 confirmed casesof chronic beryllium diseaseamong Y-12 workers

1992 - ORISE consolidated its K-12 science education programs, including management of DOE’s MathQuest, a free summer camp that taught 7th and 8th graders math through fun activities.

1992 - Energy Secretary Watkins began transferring managerial and oversight responsibilities for worker health analytical studies from DOE to DHHS-CDC to increase trust and confidence in DOE’s research programs and improve contractor commitment.

1992 1992

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1992

Four new fellowship programs supported education, environmental and health initiatives

Aligned with national education, environmental and health initiatives strongly

supported by DOE, four new ORISE fellowship programs began their first year

of appointments in 1992: Graduate Fellowships for Global Change Program,

Global Change Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, Human Genome

Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowships, and Industrial Hygiene Fellowship Program.

The Graduate Fellowships for Global Change Program was created to produce

highly trained scientists who spent three months researching the problems of global

change at an approved facility. The fellowships were sponsored by DOE’s Office of

Energy Research, Office of Health and Environmental Research, Atmospheric and

Climate Research Division.

The Global Change Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship Program offered

recently graduated postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to participate in up to

two years of global change research at DOE or other approved federal and university

laboratories. The program was a joint effort between DOE, the U.S. Departments of

Agriculture, Commerce, State and the Interior, NSF, EPA, NASA, the Office of Science

and Technology Policy, OMB, and the Council on Environmental Quality.

Participants in Human Genome Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowships conducted

research in biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, mathematics and information

science in support of the DOE Human Genome Program, which was started to

develop the tools, technologies and resources required to decipher the molecular

nature of the human genome. The fellowships were sponsored by DOE’s Office of

Health and Environmental Research.

The Industrial Hygiene Fellowship Program was sponsored by DOE’s Office of the

Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health, Industrial Hygiene Division,

and was designed to increase the number of industrial hygienists to help ensure

environmental quality and the health of workers at DOE facilities.

Each of these fellowship programs was established in direct response to critical DOE

mission needs at the time. Over the life of these programs, hundreds of fellows were

provided with meaningful research experiences. As a result, the federal government

also developed workforce capability in key areas of focus for the nation.

16

1992

New program designed to identify workers with beryllium disease due to occupational exposure

ORISE scientists began a program in January 1992 to monitor the health of workers

exposed to beryllium at the Oak Ridge Y-12 National Security Complex which began

producing nuclear weapons components as part of the World War II Manhattan

Project.

Funded by DOE and directed by the ORISE Center for Epidemiologic Research, the

Y-12 Beryllium Worker Enhanced Medical Surveillance Program was designed to

identify workers who had developed or may develop chronic beryllium disease (CBD)

because of exposure to beryllium.

ORISE conducted short health and work history surveys of 7,429 current workers at

the Y-12 plant. Information from the survey was combined with historical information

from Y-12 records to identify former and current beryllium workers. Approximately

3,000 workers were identified for medical monitoring during Phase One of this

program. Seven former Y-12 workers who had worked with beryllium were diagnosed

as having CBD through an earlier screening effort.

Phase Two involved the completion of detailed work and medical history

questionnaires as well as a clinical examination consisting of a physical examination

focused on the skin and lungs, a chest X-ray, a lung function test, a routine blood

count, and a blood test known as the lymphocyte proliferation test.

18

New program designed to identify workers with beryllium disease due to occupational exposure

1993

1993 - Hazel R. O’Leary named Secretary of Energy.

Postdoctoral fellowships promoted influx of new ideas and skills into national labs

1993 - More than 120 ORISE-managed science education programs supported an average of 3,000 participants. A new science education program in 1993 was ScienceQuest, funded by DOE and NSF, which provided middle school minority students with a month-long science camp experience.

1993 - The first 12 fellows were appointed by ORISE in a new DOE Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program for research experiences in the physical sciences, computer sciences, engineering and other fields.

3,000 Number of students, faculty and

postdocs who participated in 120+ ORISE-managed science

education programs in 1993

1993

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Research Spotlight

Brothers in student lab co-opnow in important ORNL jobs

John Wagner, Ph.D. Robert Wagner, Ph.D.

In the early 1990s, brothers John Wagner

(Ph.D., nuclear engineering, Pennsylvania

State University, 1997) and Robert Wagner

(Ph.D., mechanical engineering, University of

Missouri-Rolla, 1999) were participants in an

ORISE-managed program known as the DOE

Lab Co-op Student Research Participation

Program. The program included ten weeks

in the summer and offered students the

opportunity to gain practical experience by

participating in research, development and

demonstration programs at approved DOE

laboratories, like ORNL, or energy technology

centers. Today, John Wagner is the manager

of Used Fuel Research, Development, and

Demonstration in the Reactor and Nuclear

Systems Division at ORNL. Included among

his award-winning work are two patents related

to nuclear fuel storage and transportation.

Robert Wagner is the director of Fuels, Engines

and Emissions Research Center at ORNL,

where he performs research in combustion,

engine controls, thermodynamics, and thermal

energy recovery for conventional and bio-

renewable fuel applications. Robert also is an

adjunct research professor at the University

of Tennessee and a member of the executive

committee for the DOE U.S.-China Clean

Energy Research Center on Clean Vehicles.

1993 - DOE embarked on a 30-year, $100 billion cleanup of its nuclear weapons production complex. Energy Secretary O’Leary promised “openness” concerning past nuclear weapons testing and emphasized the importance of “employee safety and health as a top priority” because of worker exposure to dozens of hazards in nearly 50 years of nuclear weapons-making.

1993

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1993

Just-in-time training helped DOE respond to worker health/environmental needs

1993 - ORISE professionals designed and delivered a series of new training courses for DOE in radiological control and risk communication to address worker health and environmental-related needs.

1993 - Experts with the ORISE program for safety, health and quality assurance completed an ANSI standard on Nuclear Criticality Safety Training, which DOE and NRC accepted as a model for training workers who handled fissile materials at nuclear sites. ORISE also developed a nuclear criticality safety course for supervisors at DOE’s Y-12 plant and a nuclear criticality safety course for fuel facility inspectors for the NRC.

1993 - ORISE’s Radiation Internal Dose Information Center worked with ORNL to develop a mathematical model for calculating radiation dose to a mother and her fetus during each stage of pregnancy.

1993 - ORISE worker health support for DOE shifted from long-term analytical studies to short-term, quick-response studies focusing on investigations of alleged facility health problems.

1993

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1993

New ORISE training courses helped DOE address worker health and environmental-related needs

Responsive to Energy Secretary O’Leary’s

vow to protect the health and safety of all

DOE workers, ORISE professionals designed

and delivered a series of new training

courses for DOE to address worker health

and environmental concerns. The first effort

involved coordinating, developing and

test-piloting a set of courses that provided

consistent and appropriate training for DOE

personnel working in radiological control.

The series consisted of seven courses in

radiological control attended by 148 DOE

auditors and inspectors. ORISE also delivered

nine courses in radiological control for 88

DOE managers.

Additionally, ORISE experts developed

and delivered training workshops for

approximately 200 DOE-Oak Ridge staff,

contract personnel, and federal and state

regulatory officials to learn to use a new

DOE computer code known as RESRAD. The

computer code was designed to calculate what

the soil remediation guidelines should be to

ensure any radiation doses to the public or to

future workers were within allowable limits.

The code also could be used to determine

the radiation dose based on the actual

contamination levels.

23

1993

New postdoctoral program offered research opportunities for recent graduates in science and engineering

The new Distinguished Postdoctoral

Research Fellowship Program,

sponsored by the DOE Office of

University and Science Education

Programs, appointed 12 fellows in

its first year. Providing participants

with opportunities to become integral

parts of research teams at numerous

participating national laboratories

and universities across the country,

the program offered fellowships

in the physical sciences, computer

sciences, engineering and other

related disciplines. This promoted

an influx of new ideas and skills into

the laboratories, complemented and

extended traditional academic research

and training programs, and enhanced

interactions between the academic

community and federal researchers.

Participants surveyed had positive

comments on the value of the program:

“I have acquired innumerable technical

and theoretical skills ... and have been

afforded a wide range of scientific

interactions with other researchers.

I have broadened my interest and

expertise and have initiated studies

in environmental research, which I

intend to carry through the remainder

of my career.”

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New postdoctoral program offered research opportunities for recent graduates in science and engineering

1994

1994 - DOE completed a classified, interagency operation to transfer weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of Kazakhstan to DOE’s Y-12 plant at Oak Ridge, Tenn. REAC/TS provided radiation emergency response readiness for this effort.

1994 - ORISE helped launch the DOE-sponsored NAACP Scholarship Program, placing 40 participants in the first year.

Number of minority students selected in first year of DOE NAACP Scholarship Program

40

Photo Credit: Y-12

25

1994

Rare, new recoil mass spectrometer brought online for nuclear physics research

1994 - Staff at the University Isotope Separator at Oak Ridge (UNISOR) and ORNL brought into operation a recoil mass spectrometer, one of only five in the world. UNISOR and ORNL also worked toward the development of the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility, which was expected to become the first in the world to provide radioactive ion beams for nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics research.

1994 - The new DOE Manufacturing Opportunities Through Science and Technology summer institute, a collaborative effort between ORISE and Y-12, provided teachers with firsthand experience in the area of manufacturing technology to enhance teaching skills.

1994 - ORISE scientists began developing a computer model to determine the maximum dose of a radionuclide needed to treat a malignant tumor without damaging other organs.

1994 - ORISE’s Center for Epidemiologic Research completed a second medical survey of workers formerly assigned to the Centrifuge Program at the K-25 site, also known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and found no increase in bladder cancers over an initial medical survey of workers in 1989.

Precedent-setting model was developed to protect healthy organs during cancer treatment

1994

26

Research Spotlight

Russian teachers studied atORISE in DOE cultural exchange

Konstantin EfimovFedor KarmanovVladimir Shablov

Konstantin Efimov, Fedor Karmanov and

Vladimir Shablov from Obninsk, Russia,

(pictured here from left to right) studied

at ORISE in the summer of 1994 as DOE-

sponsored cultural exchange participants in

the Manufacturing Opportunities Through

Science and Technology summer institute.

Alongside U.S. teachers in the program, these

Russian teachers used computer-aided design

equipment and various machinery to gain

firsthand knowledge and teaching skills in the

area of manufacturing technology, a field that

included many disciplines and offered career

opportunities to individuals with a variety

of skills and educational backgrounds. The

institute was a collaborative effort between

ORISE and the Center for Manufacturing

Technology at the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge

and was funded by DOE through the Federal

Council for Science, Energy and Technology.

1994 - The ORISE Cytogenetics Program began using cryopreservation techniques to store lymphocytes from more than 2,000 Soviet workers involved in the cleanup of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident. This allowed for future studies of chromosome damage caused by the workers’ exposure to radiation.

Number of Chernobyl cleanup workers from whom lymphocytes were preserved for future study

2,000

ORISE examined Y-12 workers for mercury exposure effects and K-25 workers for bladder cancer

1994 - ORISE’s Center for Epidemiologic Research began work to reexamine a group of mercury workers at Y-12 originally found in 1987 to have had adverse health effects resulting from mercury exposure. The reexamination included testing for damage to the nervous systems of the workers.

1994

27

1994

1994 - ORISE evaluated the technology transfer and commercial impact of DOE winners of the annual Research and Development 100 Awards, finding that more than 50 percent of DOE’s laboratory-born technologies had been transferred to the private sector and were providing positive economic effects.

1994

Model developed to protect healthy organs during tumor treatments

ORISE scientists initiated precedent-

setting work in internal dosimetry

that improved the understanding of

the beneficial uses of radionuclides

as diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

Staff at the ORISE Radiation Internal

Dose Information Center developed a

systematic computer model that allows

physicians to determine how much of a

radiolabeled compound a patient needs

to effectively treat a malignant tumor

without unduly damaging any other

organs. In perfecting the model, ORISE

teamed with New-Hampshire-based

Diatech, a biotechnology firm that

developed radioactive compounds for

use in treating cancer patients. Using

patient-specific data sets supplied by

Diatech, ORISE’s computer model

calculated the maximum dose of a

radionuclide that a patient can tolerate,

thus eliminating some of the risks

to other organs. By optimizing the

administered dose for each patient,

this procedure was expected to reduce

medical follow-up periods and health

care costs, as well as add a new level of

safety to radionuclide therapy.

28

The Mid 1990s

Midway through this decade, the U.S. government was dealing with the outcomes of an early 90s recession, which caused federal downsizing and some government shutdowns. Budgets for science and research were being greatly reduced. DOE made tough decisions about closing out some of its long-running research programs that weren’t directly aligned with its current missions in industrial competitiveness, energy resources, national security, environmental quality, and science and technology. The Internet and web-based platforms were being used to generate more efficiencies and create a globalized workforce.

Environment, safety and health were increasingly a focus with more clean up being executed complex-wide by DOE, more worker health studies implemented, and more stringent safety guidelines established for nuclear facilities. The Clinton administration released a Congressional report titled “Building Public Trust: Actions to Respond to the Report of Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments,” which highlighted the need for safer practices in human subjects research involving radiation.

Although budgets were tight, key education agencies and associations continued to push for increased focus on STEM disciplines, and national laboratories remained committed to breakthroughs in science. The National Research Council published its “National Science Education Standards” to meet a goal of scientific literacy for all by the year 2000. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory opened a new international user facility—the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility—that would stretch the boundaries of radiation research using ion beams.

As the nation focused its attention toward priorities of environmental responsibility, education and health initiatives, the threat of terrorism was growing. On a spring morning in 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City was bombed, marking the worst terrorist attack to take place on American soil at that time. In the next year, Congress established the U.S. Domestic Preparedness Program to facilitate nationwide training in preparation for a terrorist act involving nuclear, chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction. DOE would be tasked with delivering the nuclear training portion of the program.

With decades of experience in radiation training, science education, environmental assessments, worker health studies and emergency management, ORISE provided critical support to these efforts.

29

THE MID1990s

1992-1994

1995-1997

1998-1999

2000-2002

2003

-2005

2006-2009 2010-20

13










1995

1995 - DOE’s first comprehensive strategic plan, “Fueling a Competitive Economy,” identified five core mission areas: industrial competitiveness, energy resources, national security, environmental quality, and science and technology.

ORISE supported GLOBE science education partnership

1995 - ORISE science education specialists supported more than 100 teachers participating in the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program, which was funded by six federal agencies and linked K-12 teachers and their students with scientists around the world for enhanced environmental awareness.

1995

Leukemia linked to radiation exposure in ORISE mortality study

1995 - ORISE study revealed a significant relationship between death from leukemia and occupational radiation exposure of workers at the Savannah River Site.

Number of Savannah River workers in ORISE study on leukemia and occupational radiation exposure

9,860

ORISE recognized with quality management award

1995 - ORISE was recognized with the Tennessee Quality Commitment Award for its demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement and total quality management practices.

1996 - The ORISE Radiation Internal Dose Information Center was a key contributor to release criteria for patients receiving radiopharmaceuticals, specifically including guidelines for breastfeeding mothers who were being treated with nuclear medicine.

1996 1996

31

1995

ORISE supported GLOBE science education partnership for environmental awareness

The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE)

program came to Oak Ridge when ORAU was chosen as one of 13 GLOBE teacher

training sites in the country. Announced by Vice President Al Gore during the 1994

Earth Day celebration, GLOBE was funded by six federal agencies and was designed

to promote a better understanding of earth systems and enhance environmental

awareness of individuals throughout the world. Approximately 1,500 schools across

the country took part in the GLOBE program, which functioned as a science and

education partnership linking K-12 teachers and their students with scientists around

the world. As a designated teacher training site, ORAU hosted 106 teachers eager to

learn about implementing the program in their schools. ORISE science education

specialists provided support for the three-day training sessions, which taught teachers

how to take a variety of environmental measurements and observations such as air

temperature, soil moisture, and vegetation characteristics. The teachers then taught

the techniques to their students, who sent their data via the Internet to a GLOBE

processing facility and received in return graphic global images for classroom study.

32

1995

Leukemia linked to radiation exposure in ORISE mortality study of Savannah River workers

ORISE’s Center for Epidemiologic

Research has conducted some of the

most comprehensive studies of how

occupational exposure to low-level

radiation and/or chemical toxicants

affects employee health and mortality.

One study completed in 1995 revealed

a statistically significant relationship

between death from leukemia and

occupational radiation exposure of

workers at DOE’s Savannah River Site

in Aiken, S.C. It built upon a 1988

study that examined the mortality,

through 1980, of 9,860 white males

who were first employed at the site

between 1952 and 1974. The 1995 study

involved an additional six years of

follow-up through 1986 and included

dosimetry data for 99 percent of the

study population. Because similar

studies have produced varied results,

ORISE recommended that further

research be done in this area.

34

Leukemia linked to radiation exposure in ORISE mortality study of Savannah River workers

1996

1996 - ORISE’s Federal Academic and Research Reviews Program coordinated the review of federal research proposals in support of 11 DOE offices, processing more than 3,157 reviewer comments in 1996.

Number of reviewer comments processed by ORISE from research proposals supporting 11 DOE offices

3,157

1996 - ORISE was recognized with the Tennessee Quality Achievement Award for operational excellence and continuous improvement practices.

1996 - Secretary O’Leary signed a record of decision for stockpile stewardship, finalizing plans for a smaller, more efficient weapons complex.

1996

35

1996

New ORISE National Security Program was established to enhance terrorism preparedness

1996 - ORNL’s Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility was officially dedicated as an international user facility, serving approximately 300 scientists from 33 states and 20 foreign countries.

Photo Credit: ORNL

1996 - In response to the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996, the ORISE National Security Program was established to enhance national preparedness in the event of a terrorist attack.

1996 - The ORISE Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS) added more than 140 serious radiation accidents in Russia between 1950 and 1993 to the REAC/TS Radiation Accident Registry. This information was not available prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

1996 - The ORISE National Security Program prepared safety and security personnel for the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Presidential Inauguration and the Denver Summit of the Eight.

140 Number of previously unreported radiation accidents in Russia between 1950 and 1993 that were added to the REAC/TS database

1996

36

New ORISE National Security Program was established to enhance terrorism preparedness

ORISE report found male workers at Fernald had increased lung cancer death rates

1996 - The ORISE Center for Epidemiologic Research reported on death rates of males who were hired at DOE’s Feed Materials Production Center in Fernald between 1951 and 1981. The results showed a statistically significant increase in lung cancer with high levels of external radiation received by the workers.

1996 - ORISE environmental survey professionals began work on inspection plans—focused on survey procedures, instrument calibration, soil sampling techniques and data management—for 15 uranium mill sites in the western U.S.

1996 - ORISE developed DOE’s Safeguards and Security Awareness Refresher Briefing using the ORAU-copyrighted Advisor tool for authors of computer-based training, which saved DOE $150,000 and more than 2,700 development hours. The training was adopted by DOE Headquarters as its standard briefing.

1996 - ORISE prototyped a new interactive distance learning training course, “Energy Manager Workshop,” for DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program with the first pilot course involving more than 80 participants from 15 different DOE sites.

Number of hours of training conducted annually by ORISE programs, including computer-based and distance learning courses

1.3 million

1996 1996

37

1996

REAC/TS added previously unavailable information on Russian radiation accidents to its registry

Knowledge of the radiobiology of humans when exposed to high levels of radiation

was increased significantly through an agreement between the ORISE-managed

Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS) and the Institute

of Biophysics of the Russian Federation. In collaboration with the institute, REAC/TS

added to its Radiation Accident Registry new information on more than 140 serious

accidents that occurred in Russia between 1950 and 1993. More than 400 cases of acute

radiation syndrome were represented by the institute’s records. This cooperative effort

to centralize the information proved significantly valuable to the medical community

in diagnosing, treating and following individuals accidentally exposed to ionizing

radiation. REAC/TS, a deployable asset of DOE, is part of ORISE.

1996

ORISE report found male workers at Fernald had increased lung cancer death rates

The ORISE Center for Epidemiologic Research evaluated various DOE worker

populations for studies of occupational health effects to help DOE address worker

health concerns. In 1996, an ORISE study reported on the death rates of a cohort of

males who were hired at DOE’s Feed Materials Production Center in Fernald, Ohio,

between 1951 and 1981. The researchers observed that the number of deaths due

to lung cancer did increase with higher external radiation doses; however, no other

cancer causes of death showed a correlation with the radiation dose received by the

workers. For internal radiation exposure, a relationship was seen only with deaths

from chronic nonmalignant respiratory disease.

38

1997

1997 - ORISE evaluated the effectiveness of DOE fellowships and research participation programs, generating a ten-year series of evaluation reports on 30,000 past participants.

Number of past participants involved in a 10-year study of effectiveness of DOE fellowships and research participation programs

30,000

1997 - Ron Townsend was hired as ORAU president and CEO and assumed the role of director of ORISE; ORAU was named DOE Oak Ridge Operations Contractor of the Year for outstanding performance in support of small business.

1997 - Federico F. Peña appointed Secretary of Energy.

1997 - In an international expansion of nuclear safety training, ORISE presented its Nuclear Criticality Safety for Fuel Facility Inspectors course in Moscow, Russia, for DOE and in Kiev, Ukraine, for the NRC.

1997

39

Research Spotlight

DOE fellow received R&D 100 recognition for bioremediation technology research

Susan Pfiffner, Ph.D.Photo Credit: UT

Susan Pfiffner, a former DOE postdoctoral fellow in

a research associate program administered by ORISE

at ORNL, was recognized as a major co-contributor

to a new bioremediation technology. In 1996, she

was named by Research & Development magazine as

participating in one of the top 100 research projects in

the U.S. Pfiffner contributed to PHOSter, a technology

that was initiated to gain a basic understanding of

microorganisms in subsurface soils and their potential

for assisting in the cleanup of contaminants. The

PHOSter, or phosphate-accelerated bioremediation,

technology reduced degradation time by years or

decades, especially if longer cleanup periods were

anticipated, and the added cost of implementation

was only about eight percent, which was often offset

by reduced cleanup times. It was a prime example

of a new emphasis on “green” or environmentally

friendly remediation methods. These methods worked

with nature to clean up sites using minimal energy.

The technology developed through this project has

been transferred and used by companies across the

U.S. and internationally to remediate hydrocarbon-

and chlorinated solvent-contaminated sites. The

development and application of PHOSter was funded

by the Office of Science and Technology within

DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. Pfiffner

is currently a research associate professor at the

University of Tennessee.

1997

RIDIC model used for irradiating blood vessels during heart angioplasty

1997 - The ORISE Radiation Internal Dose Information Center (RIDIC) developed a model for physicians treating blood vessels with radiation following a balloon angioplasty to keep blockages from reoccurring. The model helped determine the safest amount of radiation to apply to a blood vessel.

1997 - REAC/TS was approved to store and distribute the pharmaceutical Prussian blue for individuals contaminated with radiocesium or radiothallium. As the only U.S. source, REAC/TS used Prussian blue for two medical emergencies involving thallium poisoning.

40

1997 - ORISE staff were key members of the team that drafted the Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) and developed the first MARSSIM training course to assist participants in learning this new approach for radiological surveys decommissioning.

1997 - DOE and the Energy Quality Council recognized ORISE with an Energy Quality Champion Award for noteworthy achievement in quality performance.

REAC/TS and DOE supported safe launch of NASA’s Cassini probe

1997 - Since 1992, ORISE has independently verified completion of several FUSRAP, or Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, projects for DOE, helping to demonstrate by 1997 that nearly ten of the major FUSRAP sites were cleaned up to regulatory standards.

1997 - REAC/TS and DOE supported the NASA “Cassini” deep space probe launch, fueled by plutonium-238. REAC/TS

conducted medical radiation accident preparedness training at Kennedy Space Center and for five Brevard County hospitals.

ORISE selected to independently verify cleanup of K-25 plant

1997 - DOE requested that ORISE verify that the facilities at the former K-25 site were safe for public use following a major cleanup effort.

1997 1997

41

1997

1997 - The ORISE Center for Epidemiologic Research completed “A Mortality Study of Employees of the Nuclear Industry in Oak Ridge, TN,” which examined the mortality of workers employed between 1943 and 1985 at DOE’s three largest Oak Ridge sites—K-25, X-10 and Y-12. By comparing the data across multiple sites, results were more statistically reliable and provided a more comprehensive view of the health effects of low-level radiation.

1997 - ORISE staff at the University Radioactive Ion Beam (UNIRIB) consortium used the recoil mass spectrometer at ORNL’s new Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility in the discovery of thulium-145.

Thulium-145 was discovered using recoil mass spectrometer

1997

PeerNet saved time, money for peer review of DOE research proposals

ORISE staff manage the reviews that

determine which research proposals

receive federal funding for multiple

DOE offices. In 1997, ORISE piloted

its newly developed, web-based

system for peer review management,

PeerNet, with DOE’s Environmental

Management Science Program. Using

PeerNet, reviewers entered their

comments directly into the secure,

password-protected system, providing

immediate feedback. The time needed

to key in the previously handwritten

comments was eliminated, as were

misinterpretations and errors. The data

could be used throughout the process,

from peer discussions to making the

actual awards. DOE sponsors and

reviewers had remote access to the

system and could complete much

of their work from anywhere. The

pilot involved an evaluation of 2,400

research proposals by more than 200

reviewers. The system allowed the

project to be completed three weeks

early and saved more than $218,000.

For its contribution to automating the

federal grants process, PeerNet was

recognized with Vice President Gore’s

Hammer Award in 1997.

42

The Late 1990s

By the last few years of the twentieth century, the economy was beginning to stabilize, and America was enjoying more prosperous times. At home, Americans were preoccupied with the possible impeachment of President Clinton, the first docking of Space Shuttle Discovery with the International Space Station, and whether the Internet and computer systems would crash as the country moved into the year 2000.

Globally, security issues remained a top priority as al-Qaida militants, particularly leader Osama bin Laden, led simultaneous attacks on two U.S. embassies — Kenya and Tanzania — killing 224 people. On the nuclear weapons front, tensions were high as both India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons in a race to establish themselves as nuclear powers, further degrading the uneasy relationship between these two countries.

The speed of technological advancements increased exponentially as engineers worked to find new ways to process information and data at even faster speeds. It was during this time that IBM unveiled designs for a supercomputer that could perform more than a quadrillion operations per second.

More effort was focused on sustainable business and reducing the environmental footprint of doing business. Advances were made in recycling, and greater emphasis was placed on developing and using biodegradable products. Progress continued in cleaning up and downsizing the federal system of legacy nuclear facilities, and more current and former energy workers were being screened for health effects from occupational exposures to hazardous materials.

Many ORISE capabilities were integrated into elements of the nation’s response to these ongoing and emerging needs. These included increased training to better prepare the nation’s response to terrorism, educating the next generation of scientists and researchers who could adapt and build upon technological advancements, and ensuring cleanup efforts at legacy nuclear facilities would facilitate the re-industrialization of this land.

43

THE LATE1990s

1992-19

94

1995-1997

1998-1999

2000-2002

2003-20

05

2006-2

009

2010-2013










1998

1998 - Bill Richardson appointed Secretary of Energy.

Beryllium screening program expanded to include former Rocky Flats workers

1998 - Beryllium screening program expanded with $4 million DOE contract to include former Rocky Flats workers.

1998 - ORISE implemented an organizational restructuring that resulted in cost reductions of $1.5 million.

1998

1998 - ORISE served as the final checkpoint to verify that contaminated items and buildings had been cleaned up at the DOE East Tennessee Technology Park (former K-25 facility), kicking off a multiyear project.

ORISE selected to provide radiological training with U.S. Domestic Preparedness Program

1998 - ORISE assisted DOE’s Office of Emergency Response in providing the nuclear training portion of the U.S. Domestic Preparedness Program, established in 1996 as a result of terrorism incidents, such as the World Trade Center bombing of 1993.

1998 - DOE announced the Workforce for the 21st Century Initiative to recruit technical and management staff with skills to match changing mission requirements.

1998 - DOE certified that the U.S. nuclear stockpile was safe and secure.

1998 1998

45

1998

ORISE served as final decontamination checkpoint for cleanup at DOE’s East Tennessee Technology Park

ORISE began its crucial role of independent verification in DOE’s multiyear effort to

reindustrialize the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP). ETTP encompassed the

former DOE K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant, where enriched uranium was produced

from 1945 to 1987 for use in nuclear weapons and commercial reactor fuel. Once

other contractors were satisfied with their decontamination work, ORISE provided the

independent verification of the approved final release and waste acceptance criteria.

ORISE efforts supported confirmation that the 100-plus acres of building space and

materials from the site had been decontaminated to meet regulatory standards, and

the site was safe and ready for new occupants in the East Tennessee Technology

Park. ORISE also provided quality checks on waste from the site that was headed for

disposal in landfills licensed to hold radioactive material.

1999

ORISE partnered with federal agencies to address the changing face of terrorist threats

In mid-1998, the U.S. had again been the target of terrorism, but this time on an

international scale. U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,

were attacked in coordinated terrorist truck bombings.

Following similar attacks in the U.S. in the early-to-mid 90s—Oklahoma City and the

World Trade Center bombings—Congress established the U.S. Domestic Preparedness

Program in 1996. The intent of the program was to teach local emergency response

teams in 120 U.S. cities what actions should be taken when confronted with an act of

terrorism in their communities, including the use of WMD. ORISE became a major

partner in this program in 1996 when it was tasked by DOE’s Office of Emergency

Response to provide the radiological training portion of this program.

In 1999, ORISE trained more than 5,500 fire and rescue personnel, emergency medical

technicians and hospital staff in how to respond to nuclear/radiological emergencies

and conducted 70 radiological weapons training events across the nation.

On an international scale, ORISE expanded its role in support of the International

Preparedness Training Program in 1999. ORISE coordinated the training for more

than 50 high-level government officials in Amman, Jordan, in the first international

Weapons of Mass Destruction Crisis Response/Consequence Management Seminar.

46

Research Spotlight

ORISE researcher solved neutron scattering challenge with instrument innovation

Michael Agamalian, Ph.D.

“The years I’ve spent at ORNL

have definitely been the most

fruitful of my career.”

From 1995 to 1998, Michael Agamalian, a physicist

with a doctorate from St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics

Institute in Russia, studied the disparity in performance

between the ultra-small-angle neutron scattering

(USANS) instrument at ORNL and the classical X-ray

analog (USAXS). Agamalian quickly found the reason

for the difference. Essentially, reflection from the back

surface of channel-cut silicon crystals was resulting in

a parasitic scattering, which dramatically decreased the

sensitivity of the USANS instrument.

Agamalian redesigned the crystals by cutting an

additional groove (the Agamalian cut) and placed a

cadmium absorber in that groove, thereby placing

the parasitic scattering behind “cadmium bars.” This

innovation increased the sensitivity of the USANS

instrument threefold, making it the best in the world

and of equal quality to the X-ray analog. Researchers

can use USANS to probe the supramolecular structures

of plastics, rocks, porous materials, fibers and many

other objects.

Agamalian received two international awards for this

research, the Arnold O. Beckman Award from the

International Society of Instrumentation and Control

(1999) and the A. Guinier Prize from the International

Union of Crystallography (2002). Today, he is the

lead instrument scientist responsible for the USANS

instrument at the ORNL Spallation Neutron Source.

1998

1998 - On the drawing board for ORNL was a $1.3 billion DOE-funded project, the Spallation Neutron Source, providing the most intense, pulsed neutron beams in the world.

1998 - ORISE researchers at UNIRIB and ORNL’s Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam facility discovered five new proton-emitting isotopes using the recoil mass spectrometer, one of only five in the world.

48

Researchers discovered five new isotopes using recoil mass spectrometer

1999 - DOE began increasing its study of nuclear proliferation, including biological and chemical threats.

1999 - ORISE trained more than 5,500 emergency and medical personnel in nuclear/radiological emergency response. ORISE also conducted 70 nuclear weapons training events targeted toward large population centers across the nation, supporting DOE’s Office of Emergency Response and the U.S. Domestic Preparedness Program.

10,300 Number of active and former beryllium workers screened since 1992

Number of emergency and medical personnel trained in radiological emergency response

5,500

1999 - DOE increased its focus on sustainable energy technologies, including significantly increasing use of wind power over the next ten years as part of the Wind Powering America Initiative.

ORISE received DOE Energy Quality Champion Award

1999 1999

49

1999Nationwide beryllium screening effort launched by ORISE

As a strategically important material

used in the nuclear industry since the

1940s, beryllium had been ground,

machined and welded by workers for

years, and that exposure to beryllium

dust or fumes caused a number of

workers to become ill with chronic

beryllium disease (CBD). Late in 1998,

DOE funded a $4 million ORISE

program to consolidate and expand

beryllium worker screening efforts.

Since beryllium screenings had begun

in 1992, more than 10,300 active

and former beryllium workers had

been screened, including more than

2,500 in 1999. With at least 20,000

eligible workers yet to be screened,

ORISE set up 28 two-day screening

clinics in major U.S. cities in an effort

to reach them. In addition to the

screening activities, ORISE continued

to work with a number of key research

hospitals across the country to refer

workers who might have CBD for

additional testing and follow-up care.

50

Nationwide beryllium screening effort launched by ORISE

1999

1999 - As part of the expanded, nationwide Beryllium Screening Program, ORISE set up screening clinics in major U.S. cities to reach more than 20,000 active and former workers for chronic beryllium disease screening.

REAC/TS provided radiation medicine expertise to Japanese physicians following Tokaimura accident

1999 - REAC/TS was called upon to assist in the Tokaimura, Japan, uranium processing facility accident. Having previously trained some of the Japanese physicians, REAC/TS consulted with them on the treatment of the three victims and helped refine dose estimates.

1999

51

1999

ORISE supported DOE in metals recycling initiative

The recycling of radioactive scrap

metals had stirred a national debate over

whether such activities could be a cost-

effective solution or were a safety hazard

to the public. With integrated expertise

in both environmental surveys and

radiation safety, ORISE was involved

in one of the largest metals recycling

efforts in the country as one of DOE’s

partners in the reindustrialization of

the department’s K-25 former uranium

enrichment plant in Oak Ridge. In the

first year of the project, more than 3,400

tons had been decontaminated and

recycled to industry for reuse. ORISE

served as the independent third party

verifying that the metals and other

materials met release criteria before

they were recycled, based on DOE’s

requirements for the protection of the

public and the environment. In related

work, ORISE also partnered with the

NRC to develop standards and survey

methods to ensure the safe release of

previously contaminated scrap metals

for future uses.

1999

1999 - Energy Secretary Richardson proposed legislation to compensate current and former contract employees at uranium enrichment facilities for cancers resulting from exposure to radioactive contaminants. Sites included Paducah, Kentucky; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and the Portsmouth plant in Piketon, Ohio.

1999 - UNIRIB, with the ORNL Joint Institute for Heavy Ion Research and ORNL Physics Division, cosponsored the International Symposium on Proton-Emitting Nuclei, the first specialty conference of its kind.

52

UNIRIB sponsored first-of-its-kind conference on proton-emitting nuclei

1999 - As part of the reindustrialization of DOE’s K-25 plant, thousands of tons of radioactive scrap metal were independently verified by ORISE as decontaminated and

safe for recycling or release to industry.

3,400 Number of tons of decontaminated scrap metal independently verified by ORISE

1999 - New DOE Institutes for Biotechnology, Environmental Science, and Computing for Community Colleges program was launched by ORISE, with 107 students from 48 two-year colleges placed at five DOE laboratories in the 1999 summer session.

1999 - ORISE team members that supported development of the Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) and subsequent training were recognized with Vice President Gore’s Hammer Award.

1999 - REAC/TS personnel evaluated workers’ injuries following a chemical explosion at the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge.

1999 1999

53

1999

REAC/TS personnel evaluated workers’ injuries following Y-12 chemical explosion

In December 1999, workers at the

Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge were injured

in a chemical explosion while trying

to clear a spill of a sodium and

potassium mixture, known as NaK.

Ten workers were treated for injuries,

including one initially evaluated at the

REAC/TS facility and subsequently

transferred to the Methodist Medical

Center Emergency Department in

Oak Ridge for treatment of chemical

burns. Based on REAC/TS’ evaluation,

radiation contamination levels were

below levels of concern for all workers

involved in the accident. Many of the

emergency personnel had been trained

at the REAC/TS facility, enhancing

their ability to care for the injured and

contain any contamination. By 2000,

more than 4,300 individuals from 48

states and more than 50 countries had

taken REAC/TS courses.

1999 - Energy Secretary Richardson announced a proposal to help current and former DOE contract workers who developed medical problems resulting from exposure to beryllium. He also recommitted DOE to meeting its cleanup responsibilities.

1999 - Vice President Al Gore attended the groundbreaking ceremony for ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge.

Photo Credit: Lynn Freeny

4,300 Number of individuals that had taken REAC/TS courses by 2000

1999

54

The Early 2000s

In the earliest years of a new century, the U.S. was still focused on enduring issues in environmental protection, addressing concerns over climate change, advanced technologies for energy, research, and education, and protecting workers’ health. The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 was passed, providing compensation and medical benefits to eligible former energy workers and subcontractors.

International conflict was centered on the Middle East, with terrorism increasing as evidenced by the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. The incident was linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network, which was growing in strength. U.S. domestic preparedness efforts continued with expanded capabilities and readiness for perceived threats. Congress established a new agency within DOE—the National Nuclear Security Administration—with responsibility for the management and security of the nation’s nuclear weapons, nuclear nonproliferation and naval nuclear reactors.

By early 2001, the U.S. had sworn in its 43rd President, George W. Bush. One of his first accomplishments as president was the release of a National Energy Policy. The Bush administration had laid out an aggressive agenda to modernize conservation and the energy infrastructure, increase energy supplies and the nation’s energy security, and accelerate the protection and improvement of the environment.

Just as Americans were caught by surprise in 1993 and 1995 with the bombings of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, respectively, the U.S. would again be rocked by terrorism in our own country. On September 11, 2001, al-Qaida-led terrorists flew airplanes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and then into the Pentagon. One other terrorist-controlled plane was destined for the White House but ultimately crashed in a Pennsylvania field. With thousands of U.S. citizens killed, it was and continues to be the deadliest terrorist incident on American soil. It arguably changed the American way of life forever and launched a Global War on Terror. To coordinate and unify our country’s homeland security efforts, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002. With this act, Congress established the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which consolidated key security capabilities of 22 different federal departments and agencies under one, cabinet-level department in the largest federal government reorganization since the creation of the U.S. Department of Defense in 1947.

Because of ORISE’s diverse skill sets and agile response capability, it would be called upon to quickly support DOE, DHS and other agencies in strengthening U.S. national security and emergency management, as well as research and workforce development.

55

THE EARLY2000s

1992-1994 1995-19

97

1998-1999

2000-2002

2003-200

5

2006-2009

2010-2

013










2000

2000 - Energy Secretary Richardson announced a contract reform initiative to hold contractors more accountable and to move toward more performance-based contracts.

ORAU awarded five-year contract from DOE to manage ORISE

2000 - DOE signed a competitively awarded, five-year contract with ORAU to manage ORISE. The contract continued a management relationship with ORAU that had existed since ORISE was established in 1992.

2000

2000 - Beryllium screening program expanded to include DOE workers from Pantex Plant, Kansas City Plant, Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and Knolls Atomic Power Lab. Since the program began in 1992, more than 6,700 beryllium lymphocyte proliferation tests have been performed at the ORISE lab.

2000 - ORISE trained more than 9,000 emergency response personnel in the First Responder Domestic Preparedness Program and more than 740 students in 22 classes across the U.S. in the Bomb Technician Training Program. ORISE also provided security planning for the Republican and Democratic National Conventions and Summer Olympic Games.

740 Number of students that participated in the Bomb Technician Training Program

2000 - DOE released its new strategic plan, “Strength Through Science, Powering the 21st Century,” focused on science, energy resources, national security, environmental quality and corporate management.

2000 - ORISE Technical Training and Operations Program specialists developed a Web-based Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) course, saving travel costs and time for RSOs who are required to meet stringent training and testing requirements.

9,000 Number of emergency responders that received ORISE First Responder Domestic Preparedness training

2000 2000

57

2001

2000 - National Nuclear Security Administration established for the management and security of the nation’s nuclear weapons, nuclear nonproliferation and naval reactor programs.

2001 - Spencer Abraham appointed Secretary of Energy.

2001 - In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, DOE contributed equipment, emergency medical technicians and other assistance in support of rescue efforts.

2001 - In support of 9/11 response efforts, REAC/TS senior staff deployed with other members of DOE’s Consequence Management Response Team for five weeks to safeguard against additional acts of terrorism that might involve nuclear materials. REAC/TS also marked 25 years in operation in 2001.

ORISE supported DOE readiness for 2002 Winter Olympics

2001

58

REAC/TS deployed after September 11 terrorist attacks

2001 - In ongoing work at ETTP over the past four years, ORISE assisted DOE with the release of more than 40 million pounds of decontaminated materials for recycle/reuse and provided quality assurance evaluations for materials being sent for disposal. ORISE also analyzed nearly 11,000 samples from 27 sites in 12 states, achieving near-perfect analysis of blind samples.


40 million Number of pounds of decontaminated material verified safe for recycle/reuse

2001 - ORISE’s National Security Program specialists worked in conjunction with FBI SWAT and DOE Search Response Teams in the FBI’s Wasatch Rings II Field Training Exercise in Salt Lake City, Utah, to validate and test security procedures and the agencies’ emergency response posture prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics.

2001 - As part of the National Energy Policy implementation, Energy Secretary Abraham directed that DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy undertake strategic reviews of its research and development programs.

2001 - Energy Secretary Abraham outlined DOE’s priorities, noting the department's “overarching mission is national security” as well as identifying new sources of energy, protecting the nation’s energy infrastructure and implementing environmental cleanup faster and cheaper.

2001 2001

59

2001

REAC/TS deployed after Sept. 11 attacks to support DOE terrorism response efforts

Sept. 11, 2001, changed the world and brought terrorism to the forefront of American

lives. For the staff of REAC/TS, Sept. 11 meant immediate deployment as part of

DOE’s Consequence Management Response Team (CMRT). REAC/TS has been DOE’s

organization responsible for the medical management of radiation accidents since

1976—25 years of highly specialized mission work in responding to radiation accidents

and training physicians, nurses, and other emergency responders in the safe medical

response to an accident involving radiological factors. Following the Sept. 11 terrorist

attacks, REAC/TS senior staff were deployed for five weeks with other members of the

CMRT to ensure DOE’s readiness to respond to additional acts of terrorism that might

involve nuclear materials. The REAC/TS staff spent those five weeks checking and

rechecking equipment and procedures, training others in emergency response, and

advising and consulting with senior government officials. REAC/TS was then asked

to enhance the overall planning for U.S. response to nuclear terrorism. In a matter

of weeks, REAC/TS personnel established closer relationships with senior staff from

the U.S. Department of Defense, Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention. The REAC/TS staff also began to increase awareness

of the need for a variety of medications required for the national pharmaceutical

stockpile as well as a more unified approach for medical management of radiation

emergencies.

60

REAC/TS deployed after Sept. 11 attacks to support DOE terrorism response efforts

2001

2001 - Of the nearly 3,000 participants ORISE supported in science education programs and research experiences in FY2001, half were female, 30 percent were from underrepresented minority groups, and 30 percent of undergraduate students were from HBCUs/MEIs.

3,000 Number of participants ORISE

supported in science education programs and research experiences in FY2001

ORISE has managed DOE’s Tennessee Science Bowl for 10 years

2001 - ORISE had supported DOE’s Tennessee Science Bowl for 10 years, promoting knowledge of scientific concepts in a competitive format among Tennessee’s high school students. The program has also been a regional feeder for the annual National Science Bowl competition, for which ORISE has also provided support to DOE.

2001 - By the close of FY2001, ORISE’s Center for Epidemiologic Research staff had held 47 clinics in 15 states and screened more than 4,000 individuals for beryllium disease, representing a 278 percent increase in tests performed since 1998. Additional sites were also added to the screening program: Argonne, Fermi, Ames, Chicago, Fernald and Brookhaven.

62

2001ORISE tripled beryllium screenings in four years

In just four years, the ORISE Center for Epidemiologic Research had experienced

tremendous growth in DOE’s Former Beryllium Workers Medical Surveillance

Program. During 1998, staff had hosted 13 clinics in cities across the country and

screened 2,180 former workers. By the close of FY2001, ORISE staff had crisscrossed

the country with 47 clinics held in 15 different states. At year end, more than 4,000

individuals had been screened. This growth was attributed to increased focus in

recent years on the hazards of beryllium and chronic beryllium disease as well as a

desire by workers and DOE to speed up the process for screening. During FY2000,

ORISE staff expanded the program to three sites in addition to Rocky Flats and

Y-12, and in FY2001 the program began screening former workers from Argonne

National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Ames Laboratory,

Chicago Operations, the Fernald Plant, and Brookhaven National Laboratory. ORISE

technicians that completed the beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test (Be-LPT) in

the ORISE Beryllium Laboratory—one of only five laboratories in the country that

could perform the Be-LPT—also saw a 260 percent increase in tests performed in

just four years. Through all this growth, the lab performed with exceptionally high

accuracy as was evidenced by an error rate below two percent.

Beryllium Statistics

Number ofLPTs completedin ORISE Lab

500

1998 1999 2000

42

2013

47

3253

2499

1429903

4075

19002180

22201931

3391

5899

2001

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

5500

6000

Total LPTs donefor people screened

Number ofpeople screened

Number of clinics

27202720

63

2002

2002 - In a special address to the nation, President Bush proposed the formation of the new cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security. DOE and all other federal agencies were asked to support and collaborate with the new agency to ensure its mission success.

“This new agency will ... prevent terrorists from entering our country ... respond quickly and effectively to emergencies ... and bring together our best scientists to develop technologies that detect biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons ...”

- U.S. President George W. Bush, in calling for the proposed formation of the Department of Homeland Security

2002 - Through the DOE-NNSA Emergency Response Exercise Program, ORISE and REAC/TS advanced counterterrorism awareness and readiness by planning and conducting a consequence management exercise—Exercise Joint Venture—at the Savannah River Site, which included deployment of the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (FRMAC). Lessons learned from this exercise led to the establishment of the Laboratory Analysis Section as part of the FRMAC organization.

2002 - ORISE constructed a 4,000-square-foot beryllium testing lab in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The data center for DOE’s newly mandated beryllium registry was located at ORISE, and 130,451 records were processed on workers from 16 DOE facilities.

130,451Number of records on

DOE workers in new beryllium registry

2002 - ORISE established an anti-terrorism tabletop exercise program for training U.S. Customs Service personnel in the detection and handling of radioactive material that could be used to make a “dirty bomb.”


2002

64

New ORISE Beryllium Testing Laboratory constructed

2002 - DOE, EPA and the state of Tennessee announced an agreement to accelerate cleanup at the Oak Ridge Reservation.

2002 - DOE issued regulations for assistance for DOE contractor employees who have become ill from occupational exposures at DOE facilities, implementing the program established by Part D of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000.

2002 - ORISE began working with DOJ and DOE on the Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse Program, which provided refurbished radiation detection equipment to emergency responders in the 10 largest U.S. metro areas.

2002 - Secretary Abraham committed to “significantly improve the reach and effectiveness” of the nation’s nuclear nonproliferation programs by “preventing, detecting and reversing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, while improving nuclear security worldwide.”

20022002

65

2002

Equipping those on the domestic front lines for future terrorist attacks

ORISE partnered with DOE and DOJ

on a cooperative effort known as the

Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse

(HDER) Program. One of the goals of

the program was to provide surplus

radiological detection and other

equipment to emergency responder

agencies nationwide to strengthen

their domestic preparedness

capabilities. During the pilot phase of

the HDER program, DOJ offered the

refurbished equipment to the 10 largest

metropolitan areas in the United

States. “The HDER Program is an

excellent example of federal agencies

and private organizations working

together to address a critical domestic

preparedness issue. This program

demonstrates the administration’s

commitment to equipping those

on the domestic front lines — our

state and local emergency first

responders — in the nation’s effort

to prevent future terrorist attacks,”

said Attorney General John Ashcroft.

In the first year of this program,

more than 1,000 surplus radiological

detectors were provided to first

responders in Washington, D.C.,

Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York,

and Massachusetts.

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1,000 Number of radiation detectors provided to first responders

2002

2002 - ORISE reported zero lost work days for the entire year of 2002, attributable to outstanding safety awareness and performance.

2002 - ORISE provided smallpox preparedness training to 100 DOE occupational health directors and field emergency managers. Originally developed by ORISE for the CDC to prepare the U.S. for a smallpox bioterrorist attack, the training was delivered to DOE at no cost to the agency per approval from CDC.

2002 - DOE tasked ORISE with coordinating a science competition for middle school students as part of the National Science Bowl annual competition.

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2002

2002 - In FY2002, ORISE research participants represented 77 different HBCUs and MEIs. Recruiting such a diverse group of applicants and placing qualified, enthusiastic participants involved a significant focused effort and investment of resources. This effort helped ORISE garner a 10 percent growth rate in participants for FY2002, high customer satisfaction marks, and minority representation in the science and engineering fellowships that far exceeded the percentages in target populations.

2002 - NOAA tasked ORISE experts and its Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD) with building and deploying a system of more than 200 stations in the U.S. Climate Reference Network to study how climate changes over time. In 2002, nearly 40 stations were completed and deemed operational.

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The Mid 2000s

By the mid-2000s, the nation remained intensely focused on the war on terrorism as the U.S. began the war in Iraq with the bombing of Baghdad. Citizens were on alert for the possibility of terrorist attacks within the United States as President Bush stated that the greatest risk to the U.S. or anywhere else in the world is the possibility of a nuclear, radiological, chemical or biological terrorist attack. Terms like weapons of mass destruction, improvised explosive devices and dirty bombs were discussed more frequently in the national news and quickly became part of discussions and debate around the world.

The unrest in the Middle East, which created greater fluctuations in oil prices, added to the growing international economic problems, and in response, the United States placed an even greater emphasis on finding ways to reduce its dependency on foreign oil. President George W. Bush announced a $1.2 billion Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and, two years later, following his re-election, he enacted the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that outlined steps to combat the country’s growing energy problems.

At the same time, the U.S. leadership recognized the nation’s need to stay competitive in an increasingly challenged global economy. The White House's National Science and Technology Council released "Science for the 21st Century," an overview of the Bush administration's science policies and accomplishments that outlined how the nation’s “science enterprise has responded to the President’s priorities for homeland and national security, economic growth, health research and the environment.”

On the home front, the nation was faced with the need to manage the consequences of a huge national disaster as, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, devastating the coastline and displacing hundreds of thousands of residents from Louisiana to Alabama. Nearly 2,000 people perished in one of the worst natural disasters to strike the United States.

Throughout this time, ORISE resources were called upon to continue building the nation’s readiness for potential terrorist attacks. ORISE was cultivating a new generation of scientists and researchers to gain further understanding of the technical aspects of these attacks, while also building the nation’s global competitiveness. At the same time, DOE continued to focus on reducing its footprint of contaminated buildings and land with the goal of releasing this land for new industrialized efforts.

69

THE MID2000s

1992-19

94

1995-1997

1998-19

99

2000-2002

2003-2005

2006-200

9

2010-2013










2003

New DHS Scholars and Fellows Program up and running in 90 days

2003 - ORISE was selected by the Department of Homeland Security to establish a new scholarship and fellowship program in national security. Within 90 days, ORISE had established the first class of 102 students. ORISE also supported the CDC with more than 700 research program participants studying critical and timely issues from pandemic flu to HIV/AIDS.

2003 - The international journal Toxicology published an ORISE paper on the lymphocyte proliferation test, which DOE has recommended that all laboratories adopt for determination of beryllium sensitivity and chronic beryllium disease. Since 1992, the program has tested more than 21,000 people for beryllium-related health problems, leading to the diagnosis of 198 cases of chronic beryllium disease and hundreds more cases of beryllium sensitization.

2003

2003 - DOE and NIH announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project.

Major nationwide exercise tested response to dirty bomb incidents

2003 - DOE hosted the Top Officials 2 (TopOff 2) nationwide exercise, spanning from Washington state with a simulated “dirty bomb” to a biological attack on the Chicago area. ORISE provided exercise planning assistance to DOE and assisted DHS’s participation in the exercise with its newly formed Crisis Action Team.

2003 - DOE expanded its coverage under the Former Workers Program to offer medical screenings to all former workers who were exposed to hazardous or radioactive substances during their employment at DOE facilities at Oak Ridge, Tenn., Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Ky.

21,000 Number of workers tested since 1992 for beryllium-related health problems

2003 2003

Photo Credit: California Emergency Management Agency71

2003

Research program established in record time to build workforce for national security

Within one year after the establishment

of the U.S. Department of Homeland

Security, ORISE science education

experts expedited, established and

administered a national scholarship

and fellowship program for DHS to

develop workforce competencies and

support research in areas critical to

national security. In less than three

months, ORISE designed the program,

recruited and reviewed more than

2,500 applications, and assisted DHS

in selecting and appointing the first

class of 102 students. This education

program was an important component

of the DHS effort to use university

research communities and prepare a

new generation of students to address

the department’s needs. Concerned

about meeting future workforce

demands in a wide range of disciplines,

DHS was prompted to find ways

to attract exceptional students and

provide them with a monthly stipend,

tuition and fees, an internship at a

DHS-designated facility, and potential

DHS employment after graduation.

The awards were intended for

undergraduate and graduate students

interested in pursuing careers in the full

range of fields that could be applied to

the DHS mission, including chemical,

electrical and civil engineering,

physics, mathematics, animal science,

international relations and clinical

psychology to name a few.

72

2003

2003 - REAC/TS’ supply of Prussian blue and DTPA was expanded as the drugs moved from investigational to new drug status. REAC/TS had managed the sole supply of these drugs since 1967 and 1997, respectively, for the treatment of radiation-related injuries.

2003 - Secretary Abraham announced that a new, accelerated environmental cleanup contract had been finalized for work at sites in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which was expected to be completed by 2008.

2003 - Since 1992, more than 1,100 former Rocky Flats radiation workers have been tested and monitored for DOE in the Former Radiation Worker Medical Surveillance Program, a program managed by ORISE since 1998.

1,100 Number of former workers from Rocky Flats tested for health effects from occupational exposure to radiation

73

Research Spotlight

Homeland security scholar helped ORNL refine sensors for dirty bomb detection

Kevin Taff

North Carolina State University (NCSU) undergraduate

Kevin Taff was one of the first 50 scholars in the DHS

Science and Technology Directorate’s Scholars and

Fellows Program administered by ORISE. Taff spent

time at ORNL helping refine a national network of

sensors for the early detection of terrorist attacks

involving chemical, radiological and biological threats.

Working with ORNL scientists on the SensorNet and

AquaSentinel projects, he researched ways to improve

sensor capabilities and their relay of information to a

central computer for analysis and response. The sensors

were expected to be deployed in locations considered

at high risk for attack, as well as at places like highway

weigh stations to detect the possible movement of a

“dirty bomb.” For Taff, the experience challenged him to

think creatively and solve engineering problems. “I was

also able to make a meaningful contribution to society

in the process,” Taff said. Taff received bachelor’s and

master’s degrees in electrical engineering from NCSU.

He worked in the private sector as an electrical engineer

for Raytheon and Hittite Microwave, and more recently

served as an RF engineer for Blackbird Technologies, a

technology company providing technical solutions for

government and industries. He is currently on staff with

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory,

providing engineering, research and development for

the defense industry.

2003

2003 - DOE launched an effort to introduce science students of all ages from across the country to the promise of hydrogen and fuel cell technology and the basic concepts and principles of hydrogen-based energy in fun and creative ways.

2003 - The ORISE Center for Human Reliability Studies completed research using infrared thermography to detect deception and supported DOE in developing a security and safety reliability program called the Human Reliability Program.

74

ORISE supported DOE in establishing a new Human Reliability Program

2003 - DOE-NNSA administrator Linton Brooks announced the establishment of the Nuclear Radiological Threat Reduction Task Force, which was formed to combat the threats posed by radiological dispersion devices or “dirty bombs.”

2003 - ORISE reported zero lost work days due to safety accidents and injuries.

2004

2004 - ORISE received DOE’s Pollution Prevention and Environmental Stewardship Award for phasing out use of perchloric acid in ORISE Radiochemistry Laboratory experiments. This action resulted in improved safety of operations in the lab, a 40 percent reduction in sample analysis time, a completely eliminated waste stream, and savings of $42,000 for every year that perchloric acid is not used in lab experiments.

$42,000 Annual savings from pollution prevention practices in ORISERadiochemistry Laboratory

2004 - Demolition began at Building 771 of DOE’s Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a former nuclear weapons production plant located near Denver, Colo., known as “the most dangerous building in America” for its 50-year legacy of plutonium leaks and spills.

2004

75

2003

Infrared thermography technology showed promise for detecting deception

ORISE’s Center for Human Reliability

Studies (CHRS) completed research

evaluating the use of infrared

thermography to detect deception

and determined that thermal imaging

clearly has a unique potential to reveal

deception. A noninvasive technology,

infrared thermography uses a camera

designed to measure infrared-range

surface temperatures of any heat-

emitting body. In this application,

CHRS researchers used the camera

to measure the skin temperature

of a volunteer’s facial surface—the

left image showing a face without

deception and the right image showing

changes in facial temperatures when

being deceptive. A viable alternative

to the polygraph, this technology has

shown promise for protecting national

security and ensuring the safety of

workers and the public.

76

Infrared thermography technology showed promise for detecting deception

2004

2004 - ORISE senior operations advisors were appointed to accompany senior DOE energy officials at national security special events, such as the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.

2004 - Rocky Flats independent verification work was conducted by ORISE to assist in cleanup efforts of the former nuclear weapons production plant. ORISE site surveys and assessments also continued for K-31 (approx. 1.5 million square feet of floor space) and K-33 (approx. 2.8 million square feet of floor space) buildings for DOE’s ETTP cleanup project in Oak Ridge.

4.3 million Number of square feet of floor space surveyed for residual contamination during continued cleanup efforts at ETTP

2004 - DOE tasked ORISE with appointing operations planners to serve on a rotating schedule that supported the DOE Office of Emergency Response when the Nuclear Incident Team may be activated during potential emergencies involving nuclear or radiological devices.

77

2004

2004 - ORAU and ORNL partnered to sponsor a national forum, “High-Performance Computing: A Science-Driven Economy.” With participation from DOE, the National Science Foundation and key organizations such as the Council on Competitiveness, the forum highlighted the importance of high-performance computing for advancing scientific discovery and stimulating economic development, and it ultimately influenced pending legislation.

2004 - ORISE was first within the DOE Oak Ridge Complex and in all of Tenn. to earn the prestigious DOE Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star status for excellence in safety performance.

2004 - High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004 was passed into law, positioning the U.S. at the forefront of high-performance computing. DOE competitively selected ORNL to begin building a 50 teraflop (50 trillion calculations per second) science research supercomputer, which would later be recognized as the fastest computer in the world.

2004

78

2004

A leader in safety: ORISE achieved VPP Star Status for excellence in safety performance

In 2004, ORISE was recognized by DOE as a Voluntary Protection Program (VPP)

Star Site. ORISE became the first DOE site in Tennessee to receive this prestigious

award for occupational health and safety programs. VPP promotes excellence in

contractor programs for preventing occupational health hazards. These programs not

only ensure that DOE orders are met but provide the best health and safety protection

at the site. In addition to a stellar safety record and a comprehensive system of safety

protocols, VPP winners have also committed to a process that includes an extensive

application and a difficult on-site review. The DOE team looked at five key areas of

the site’s performance for the past three years: management and leadership, employee

involvement, worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control, and safety and health

training. VPP reviewers also interviewed more employees than usual—a total of

250—because according to one reviewer, “we’ve never encountered a site where all

employees knew about the safety practices of the organization.” According to ORISE

Director Ron Townsend, “Through VPP, we have gone from zero accidents by chance

to zero accidents by choice.”

2004

National forum held to influence U.S. legislation for a leadership-class computing capability for science

In March 2004, ORAU and ORNL sponsored a national forum, “High-Performance

Computing: A Science-Driven Economy,” giving congressional and scientific leaders

the opportunity to better understand the importance of high-performance computing

as a national priority. With participation from DOE, the National Science Foundation

and key organizations such as the Council on Competitiveness, the forum highlighted

the importance of high-performance computing to advancing scientific discovery and

to stimulating economic development. Presentations from an array of outstanding

scientists, executives, and university representatives focused on the application of

leadership-class computing in the areas of nanotechnology, climate, and biology.

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander participated in the forum and announced he would

cosponsor Senate Bill 2176, the “High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004.” On

November 30, 2004, the related House of Representatives Bill 4516, having the same

name, was passed into law, positioning the U.S. at the forefront of high-performance

computing, a critical step for scientific advancements and commercial competitiveness.

79

Research Spotlight

Former ORISE fellow today leads university and national lab research

Lee Riedinger, Ph.D.

Photo Credit: UT

“I realize how working at this laboratory [ORNL] as a young graduate student opened my eyes, dazzled my sensibilities, and put me on a path that resulted in the terribly interesting position I now have.”

A fellow in the Oak Ridge Graduate Fellowship at ORNL, 1966-1968, and the Atomic Energy Commission Health Physics Fellowship, Vanderbilt University, 1964-1966

Current Position: • Director, Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary

Research and Graduate Education at University of Tennessee

Previous Positions:• Vice Chancellor for Research, UT • Associate Laboratory Director for University

Partnerships, ORNL • Deputy Director for Science and Technology, ORNL • Director, UT Science Alliance Center of Excellence,

for joint research between UT and ORNL• Science advisor to Tennessee Senator Howard Baker

Key Contributions/Research/Awards: • Riedinger’s research in experimental nuclear physics

has been funded by the Department of Energy since 1976.

• Key leader in UT-Battelle’s competitive bid to manage ORNL

• Fellow; Chair of Division of Nuclear Physics (1996); Chair of Southeastern Section (2004), American Physics Society

• UT Chancellor’s Research Scholar Award (1983)• Francis G. Slack Award from the Southeastern

Section of the APS (2005)• Macebearer Award at the University of Tennessee, a

top faculty honor (2008-2009)• L.R. Hesler Award (2013)

Education: Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics, Vanderbilt University, 1968

2004

2004 - ORISE placed the first teachers in the summer-long DOE Laboratory Science Teacher Professional Development Program at ORNL, established by the DOE Office of Science to engage teachers in the scientific community and help them function as leaders of science education reform.

2004 - ORISE experts developed an ANSI standard (ANSI N42.37) for radiation detection equipment for homeland security responders. This new standard provided guidelines for support to the DOE/DOJ Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse Program, among other applications.

80

2004 - ORISE worked with DOE to establish a new Oak Ridge Reservation Joint Information Center location and provided facility management for two emergency events in the Oak Ridge area: a chemical fire at ETTP and a strontium-90 truck spill on a local highway.

2004 - ORISE administered 24 different research participation programs for ORNL, serving 667 participants from nearly 200 U.S. institutions and a number of foreign schools.

2004 - A new web-based tracking system and secure portal—the Asset Readiness Management System (ARMS) and the National Events Tracking System (NETS)—were established by ORISE for all emergency response assets that belong to DOE, a first-of-its-kind resource for the agency. The systems are also tied into the Federal Response Plan to facilitate a coordinated interagency response to nuclear accidents or incidents.

2004 - ORISE began managing DOE’s Radiation Exposure Monitoring System (REMS) and NRC’s Radiation Exposure Information and Reporting System (REIRS). Today, REMS tracks nearly 4 million radiation exposure records on more than 650,000 monitored individuals from 94 reporting organizations at all 32 DOE sites. REIRS tracks more than 6.8 million radiation exposure records on more than one million monitored individuals from 200 reactor and nonreactor licensees.

2004 2004

81

2005

DOE established a national medical screening program for former employees

Under the National Supplemental Screening Program (NSSP),

which expanded DOE’s Former Worker Medical Screening

Program, DOE began offering free, customized medical tests to

thousands of former site employees who may have been exposed

to hazardous substances at work. The screenings were designed

to identify occupational diseases, such as chronic beryllium

disease, hearing loss, kidney or liver disease and some forms of

cancer. “This is a clear case where improving the efficiency and

effectiveness of a meaningful government program has a direct

impact on people’s lives,” Energy Secretary Bodman noted. “These

Americans’ efforts helped to cement not only our freedom, but

America’s victory in the Cold War and the security we know

today. Providing this screening is the first step in getting these

former workers the medical care they so rightly deserve.”

The program kicked off in the fall of 2005 with ORAU

occupational worker health experts coordinating the Kansas

City Plant production workers’ participation in the free medical

exams. In the first year, more than 1,900 former workers were

screened. The program was originally designed to serve former

DOE employees, contractors, and subcontractors from the Kansas

City Plant, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi Lab, Princeton

Plasma Physics Lab, and Pinellas Plant. Later, the program was

expanded to include Hanford, Savannah River Site, Rocky Flats,

and any worker who could not be screened by another site-

specific program.

82

DOE established a national medical screening program for former employees

2004

2004 - In response to DOE’s need for common practices for exercises, ORISE created a computer-based tool for drill and exercise development, Exercise Builder, which contains all the steps for designing, developing and evaluating emergency exercises.

2004 - ORAU moved into a new 55,000-square-foot office building, housing 180 staff members who performed work for ORISE. This was part of ORAU’s pledge to DOE to consolidate and modernize facilities in which ORISE operations took place. It also allowed the closure of the Vance Road facility where decades of pioneering medical research was conducted, returning the land/building to DOE, which it later transferred to the Methodist Medical Center.

2005

2005 - Samuel Bodman appointed Secretary

of Energy.

2005 - DOE’s National Supplemental Screening Program was established, managed by the ORISE Center for Epidemiologic Research. The program offered free, customized medical tests to thousands of former site employees who may have been exposed to hazardous substances at work.

DOE awarded new contract to ORAU to manage ORISE

2005 - DOE awarded a performance-based, five-year contract (with a five-year option) to ORAU to continue to manage ORISE.

83

2005

ORISE helped DOE build public trust in Rocky Flats environmental cleanup work

From the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site in

Colorado to the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak

Ridge, ORISE has provided independent, environmental

assessment expertise to evaluate the radiological conditions

and assist in verifying that the sites are free of any

contamination that may exceed acceptable limits established

by federal law. Specifically at Rocky Flats, ORISE performed

independent verification as the site was converted from

a former nuclear weapons component manufacturing

site to a natural wildlife preserve. The Rocky Flats facility

operated for more than 40 years and was known as one of

the preeminent nuclear weapons fabrication facilities for the

United States. Because of Rocky Flats’ mission to produce

nuclear weapons, several of its facilities were once considered

the country’s most dangerous places to work. After a major

fire in one building on the site and the continuous leaking

of pump equipment in another, the level of radioactivity

within specific areas of the building rose to such high levels

that personnel and processes were no longer allowed to

operate there. Because of these extreme conditions, the

nature of work performed at the facility, and the materials

stored there, the project took 10 years to complete and cost

$7 billion, which made it the world’s largest nuclear cleanup

project. In 2005, ORISE completed a three-year, independent

survey and verification for this site, one of the most visible

decommissioning efforts in the nation. In October 2005, the

cleanup was declared complete. By the summer of 2007, DOE

had finalized regulatory requirements and transferred nearly

4,000 acres of the site to the Department of the Interior to be

managed as a national wildlife refuge. Approximately 1,000

acres in the center of the site were to be retained by DOE for

long-term surveillance and maintenance.

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2005

2005 - DOE’s Office of Science announced an initiative, the Katrina Relief Program, to institutions serving researchers and grantees displaced by Katrina. Effort involved more than 180 higher education institutions in the affected region.

2005 - ORISE and ORNL published results from a study, begun in 2000, of 6,675 employees of Rocketdyne, the company that built engines for rockets such as the Apollo space craft. ORISE managed the computerization of radiation occupational exposure data from electronically scanned records.

6,675 Number of Rocketdyne employees studied for occupational radiation exposure

2005 - ORISE completed a three-year, independent survey and verification project for one of the most visible decommissioning efforts in the nation at the Rocky Flats site in Colorado.

2005 - Achieved ISO 14001 registration for superb environmental management systems for ORISE and ORAU operations, including a model recycling program.

2005

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Research Spotlight

Homeland security fellow applied math expertise to ORNL advanced scientific computing job

Blair Sullivan, Ph.D.

A fellow in the first class of the DHS Scholars and

Fellows Program, 2003-2007

Current Position: Assistant professor, Department of

Computer Science, North Carolina State University;

joint faculty appointment with ORNL’s Computer

Science and Mathematics Division

Previous Positions:

• Computational mathematician, ORNL

• Visiting researcher, Renyi Institute (Budapest)

• Graduate intern Microsoft Research Theory Group

Key Contributions/Research/Awards:

• Research in high-performance computing, scientific

computing, and quantum computing

• Principal investigator on research projects in social

and informatics networks, optimization, petascale

data analysis and high-performance computing

benchmarking.

• Recipient of a DHS dissertation grant (2007-2008)

• Recipient of the Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship Cup as the

Georgia Tech senior with the most outstanding record

• A Georgia Tech President’s Scholar and Jo Baker

Scholar

Education: Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton

University, B.S. in applied mathematics and B.S. in

computer science from Georgia Institute of Technology

2005

2005 - DOE changed the ORISE beryllium screening program to also serve former employees of now-defunct DOE beryllium vendor companies across the country.

2005 - DOE transferred ownership of four office buildings at the East Tennessee Technology Park, formerly the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant site, for private sector use after decommissioning was complete.

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The Late 2000s

As the country entered 2006, international and national economic struggles were at the forefront of the news, while terrorism remained a constant threat. National strength in science and technology was seen as a potential catalyst in helping the country address its many challenges. The National Academy of Sciences released the report “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future.” The report recommended increasing America’s talent pool by improving K-12 science and mathematics education; strengthening the skills of teachers through additional training in science, math and technology; and enlarging the pipeline of students prepared to enter college and graduate with STEM degrees. Responding to the report’s findings, national leaders created the America COMPETES—or America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science—Act to increase the nation's investment in science and engineering research and in STEM education from kindergarten to graduate school and postdoctoral education.

In 2009, as President Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, the nation was facing the significant economic turmoil of what would come to be known as the "Great Recession." Shortly after taking office, in his first address to the joint session of Congress, President Obama highlighted the need to rebuild the nation’s economic strength. The value of science and technology was woven into the speech as he stated that the “three areas that are absolutely critical to our economic future are energy, health care and education.” In subsequent speeches, he stressed his commitment to basic and applied research, innovation and education. Shortly after, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed to stimulate the economy through job creation and increased investments in infrastructure, education, health, environmental management and renewable energy. This was followed with the “Educate to Innovate” initiative launched to move American students from the middle to the top of science and math achievement over the next decade.

As the decade wound to its end, other issues remained priorities on the national agenda including DOE’s elevated effort to clean up aging buildings and land to enable reindustrialization efforts. On the health front, an emerging threat entered the international spotlight as the World Health Organization and the CDC declared a flu pandemic after a widespread outbreak of a new strain of the H1N1 flu virus, known as “swine flu.”

Through it all, the diverse services of ORISE were requested to provide assistance ranging from educating the next generation of scientists to improving the nation’s response to terrorism and international health threats.

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THE LATE2000s

1992-1994

1995-19

97

1998-1999 2000-20

02

2003-2005

2006-2009

2010-2013










2006

2006 - REAC/TS provided medical and health physics expertise as part of an international team that assisted the U.S. Embassy in response to a radiation incident in Venezuela.

REAC/TS supported NASA’s New Horizons launch

2006 - REAC/TS personnel conducted medical radiation accident preparedness training for military and emergency personnel at five local hospitals prior to the launch of NASA’s New Horizon space probe. The probe was powered by a radioisotope thermal generator using a plutonium-238 generator developed by DOE's national laboratories.

2006 - The $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) project, located at ORNL, was completed. ORISE participants would later perform research using the pulsed neutron beams of the SNS.

2006 - DOE’s Cray XT3 supercomputer “Jaguar” at ORNL was upgraded, increasing the system's computing power to 54 teraflops, or 54 trillion mathematical calculations per second, making the Jaguar among the most powerful open scientific systems in the world. ORISE administers programs for participants to support ORNL's high-performance computing capability.

Photo Credit: ORNL

2006 - The ORISE Radiochemistry Laboratory analyzed more than 700 samples from 13 U.S. nuclear reactors thought to have inadvertently released tritium into surrounding groundwater.

700 Number of groundwater

samples analyzed for tritium contamination from nuclear

power plants

2006 - ORISE was appointed to manage the new DOE Scholars Program, which was designed to funnel hundreds of promising young scholars into the agency’s employment pipeline that had been depleted as senior scientists and engineers retired.

2006 2006

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2006REAC/TS supported radiation exposure incident in Venezuela

A REAC/TS team of medical and

health physics experts traveled

to South America as part of an

international team deployed

to assist the U.S. Embassy in

response to a potential radiation

incident in the port city of Puerto

Cabello, Venezuela. U.S. Customs

employees at the port were exposed

to a radiation scanner missing the

shielding that normally covers

the machine’s radioactive source.

This potentially exposed users and

bystanders to gamma radiation. The

REAC/TS team supported Embassy

operations by assessing radiological

conditions and by performing

medical exams.

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REAC/TS supported radiation exposure incident in Venezuela

2006

2006 - DOE created its Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS) to strengthen and improve the health, safety and security of DOE workers, facilities and the public.

2006 - ORISE emergency management specialists launched its revised WeB-MEDIS application. A triage program to help emergency responders enter patient information at the site of the incident via a handheld device, WeB-MEDIS improves response time, care protocols, and patient condition tracking.

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2006

2006 - ORISE science education specialists placed 5,000 participants from more than 900 colleges and universities in more than 150 science education and research programs with more than 200 national laboratories and federal agencies.

2006 - REAC/TS provided continuing hands-on medical education on handling the medical aspects of radiation emergencies for 20 different locations worldwide. Participants included more than 1,000 prehospital emergency response personnel, hospital health care personnel, emergency planners and public health personnel.

2006 - DOE’s Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) announced the selection of ORISE to provide independent expert reviews of scientific and technical work on the Yucca Mountain Project.

2006 - For its management of ORISE programs, ORAU received the DOE “Facility Management Contractor Small Business Diversity Achievement Award” and the U. S. Small Business Administration’s “2006 Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence in Small Business Subcontracting.”

ORISE peer review supported $3 million in DOE cleaner fuel research grants

1,900 Number of former DOE nuclear

workers screened in first year of DOE’s National Supplemental

Screening Program

2006

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5,000 Number of ORISE research participants placed at national laboratories and research facilities

Science Workforce Spotlight

Former ORISE intern now key player in green energy workforce

Edwin Luevanos, M.B.A.

ORISE-managed Program: DOE Energy StudentAchievement Program and DOE Scholars Program

Current Position: CEO and founder of Citizen Energy, a grassroots organization for making commercial buildings energy efficient, training the next generation workforce, and advancing the clean energy economy.

Previous Positions:• Deputy Director for Green IT, DOE• Human Capital Specialist, DOE• Outreach and Recruitment Specialist, DOE• Technical staff member at ORISE

Key Contributions/Research/Awards: • On the Spot Secretary’s Award, DOE• Led DOE-wide initiatives to reduce distributed

IT energy consumption through advanced power management software and green procurement strategies

• Supported the president’s interagency Recovery Act team in implementing outreach strategies for more than $75 billion in clean energy investments

• Pioneered innovative workforce development initiatives, such as www.jobs.energy.gov

• Led expansion of the Hispanic Youth Institute to California, a leadership development program for high school students

• Developed DOE’s Energy Student Ambassador Program, a key public engagement initiative recognized by the U.S. Senate

Education: M.B.A. from Boston University; B.S., political science, from California State University, Fresno; Project Management Professional certification

2006 - ORISE coordinated peer review on grant applications for $3 million in DOE research grants to develop cleaner fuels with the improved use of biomass and plant feedstocks.

2006 - ORISE staff and partners provided free medical screenings to at least 1,900 former DOE nuclear workers in 47 states, Puerto Rico and Canada in the first year of DOE’s National Supplemental Screening Program.

2006

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2006

2006 - ORISE conducted eight pandemic flu exercises at U.S. international airports and landlocked ports of entry to prevent introduction of flu. More than 600 emergency response personnel participated.

2006 - ORISE emergency management experts served as lead writers to develop standard operating procedures for establishing Joint Field Offices in times of disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina. Approved by the White House’s Homeland Security Council, the guidance was incorporated into the National Response Plan, which provides unified response protocols for domestic incident management.

2006 - ORISE operations planners worked with NNSA to facilitate a series of exercises to enhance the nation’s emergency preparedness in advance of the congressionally mandated, full-scale Top Officials 4 (T4) exercise. One such exercise, DHS’s T4 Command Post Exercise, involved more than 4,000 federal, state and local senior officials and private sector managers.

4,000 Number of emergency management

professionals that participated in preparedness exercises for

TopOfficials 4 exercise

2006 - UNIRIB explored the extreme regions of nuclear stability with its experiments on tin-100 and tin-132, the results of which were published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.

2006

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2006

ORISE prepared U.S. airports and other ports of entry for the threat of flu from international sources

In an effort to prepare U.S. airport and

customs authorities for the threat of flu

entering the country, ORISE conducted

tabletop exercises in collaboration with the

CDC at international airports of entry into

the U.S. The exercises involved scenarios

of arriving overseas airline passengers

with worsening symptoms of influenza.

Additionally, ORISE conducted flu

preparedness exercises in two landlocked

U.S. ports-of-entry cities. More than 600

emergency response personnel participated

in the exercises. ORISE also prepared the

National Aviation Resource Manual for

Quarantinable Diseases. The manual covers

planning and preparation for, response to,

and recovery from a quarantinable disease

incident at a U.S. international airport.

Although there are nine quarantinable

diseases, only three—smallpox, SARS, and

pandemic flu—would require an elevated

response as outlined in the manual. The

manual was reviewed by the Executive Office

of the President, the White House Homeland

Security Council, and most cabinet-level

departments and was approved by the

Secretaries of Transportation and DHHS.

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2007

2007 - DOE’s ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy) was created to promote the research and development of advanced energy technologies. The agency was originally conceived in the National Academies’ report “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” on U.S. competitiveness.

2007 - ORISE peer review specialists coordinated merit-based, competitive reviews to support $375 million in DOE investment in three new bioenergy research centers in Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Madison, Wis.; and near Berkeley, Calif. The centers were established to accelerate basic research in the development of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels.

2007 - ORISE administered five no-notice exercises (NNX) for DOE’s Office of Emergency Response (NA-42), a record number of no-notice exercises for DOE in a single fiscal year. In one NNX, the NA-42’s Nuclear/Radiological Advisory Team at-sea maritime capability was demonstrated for the first time as participants had to search out and identify radioactive sources on board a ship off Virginia Beach.

Groundbreaking held for new Center for Science Education

2007

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No-notice exercises supported preparedness of DOE’s emergency response capability

2007 - ORISE re-established the Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory with a new facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Funded by DOE-NNSA and the NRC, the lab serves as an international response resource for assessing radiation doses for persons exposed to ionizing radiation. The ORISE lab is one of only two labs in the country and the only civilian lab in the U.S.

2007 - ORISE released the DOE Worker Health Summary, 1994-2004 and a companion summary version, Worker Health at a Glance, 1994-2004, a nine-year ORISE health summary of 120,000+ workers from 14 DOE sites.

2007 - ORAU broke ground on a 73,000-square-foot Center for Science Education, which would provide national prominence for ORISE science education and research programs.

2007 - ORISE planned and coordinated DOE’s role and served as part of DOE’s response team in the DHS TopOff 4 full-scale exercise in Portland, Ore. TopOff 4 tested the nation’s ability to respond to three, nearly simultaneous attacks involving radiological weapons of mass destruction. During this exercise, the ORISE Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Lab’s capabilities were also tested for the first time in receiving and processing blood samples and calculating radiation doses for “victims.”

2007 2007

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2007

2007 - ORISE health communication and training specialists developed tool kits on how to prepare for radiological and nuclear terrorism. ORISE distributed more than 700 tool kits to emergency rooms and public health departments nationwide.

2007 - More than 1,300 students and faculty from 125 U.S. colleges and universities attended the 2007 Day of Science, one of the largest DOE science education events ever held at that time. The event was hosted by DOE and ORNL. As managing contractor of ORISE, ORAU invested in this important event as a co-sponsor.

1,300 Number of students and

faculty from 125 U.S. colleges and universities that

attended DOE Day of Science

2007 - ORISE coordinated 48 scientific peer reviews of 1,906 research proposals involving 1,398 reviewers with potential funding of awards totaling more than $748 million.

$748 millionPotential research funding for which

48 peer reviews of 1,906 research proposals were completed

2007

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2007

Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory, one of only two in the U.S., offered powerful resource for international radiation emergency response

If a large population was exposed to

significant levels of radiation during a

terrorist attack, knowing the absorbed dose

could ultimately mean the difference between

life and death. Fortunately, the human

lymphocyte, a type of white blood cell, can be

used to assess radiation dose. By examining

chromosomal damage in lymphocytes,

scientists can tell how much radiation an

individual has absorbed. Dose estimation

from chromosomal changes, or cytogenetic

biodosimetry, is a proven and accurate

method and offers a powerful resource for

radiation emergency response. In 2005, in

the United States, only one laboratory had

the capability. Recognizing this gap in the

nation’s response capability, ORISE worked

with DOE-NNSA and the NRC to fund the

reestablishment of a cytogentic laboratory in

2007 as an international medical emergency

resource. Through established partnerships

with federal agencies responsible for

emergency response, and building upon

years of experience in this area, ORISE

was well positioned to ensure smooth

coordination among all parties and to engage

the Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory

in exercises and drills involving radiation

exposure scenarios. Additionally, ORISE has

created new partnerships with international

nonradiological laboratories, identifying

funding and training so that these facilities

could mobilize and assist with initial exams

during a national or international emergency.

“This facility is absolutely unique within the civilian community, and it will help to ensure that our nation is ready and able to respond to a nuclear emergency. Determining the amount of radiation exposure can ultimately mean the difference between life and death for the victims.”- Admiral Joseph Krol, associate administrator for DOE-NNSA’s emergency operations

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ORISE intern credits experience for current “hot” job at SNS

Adam Carroll

When Adam Carroll first came to ORNL as a

mechanical engineering intern, he never wanted

to leave. He participated in the DOE Science

Undergraduate Laboratory Internship, administered

by ORISE, in ORNL’s Nuclear Science and Technology

Division. As it worked out, he did not have to leave.

After four ORISE-managed internships at ORNL and

the completion of his bachelor’s degree in 2007, Carroll

was hired as a research scientist in the same group

where he interned. Carroll credits those internships as

the main reason potential employers were interested

in hiring him after college. “When I interviewed with

other companies, before being asked to return to ORNL

full time, their biggest reason for being interested in

me was my experience at ORNL. After explaining to

the interviewer what I really did at ORNL, they told

me few people have even come close to that level of

experience until after graduation,” said Carroll. The

main focus of Carroll’s internships, which involved

research that he continues to do today as a full-time

scientist, was to help design tools and parts for a highly

radioactive environment at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron

Source (SNS), which produces the world’s most intense

beams of pulsed neutrons for research. In addition

to designing tools for the hot cell at SNS, Carroll

also develops conceptual designs for the proposed

Component Test Facility, which aims to extend material

research in ORNL’s fusion energy program.

2007

2007 - For DOE-NNSA, ORISE coordinated the newly formed Emergency Response Special Interest Group (ER SIG).The group provides a forum for policy and issues discussion, and training opportunities that promote continuous improvement for NNSA’s emergency response asset community.

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2007 - Collected more than 500 soil samples from across 1,100 acres in support of decontamination and decommissioning efforts at DOE’s Battelle Columbus, Ashtabula and Fernald sites in Ohio. The purpose was to determine whether the radiological condition of each site was in compliance with release criteria, allowing DOE to designate the buildings and land areas for environmental protection, unrestricted use or industrial use.

100

REAC/TS provided launch support for Mars Science Lab

2007 - REAC/TS began its involvement in launch preparations for NASA Mars Science Lab. Overall support included educating emergency personnel in at least five hospitals on external and internal decontamination and providing technical review and comments on NASA planning documents. REAC/TS personnel eventually provided medical/health physics support on-site during the launch in 2011.

2008

2008 - ORISE coordinated peer review of progress being made on deliverables for the Roadrunner supercomputer development. Roadrunner was created to help assess the aging of nuclear weapons through simulating and modeling, which took the place of underground testing.

2008 - Energy Secretary Bodman spoke at the U.S.A.I.D. Higher Education Summit for Global Development about the critical link between science education and the needed science and technological innovation to provide solutions to the challenges ahead, especially in the energy arena.

2008 - The UNIRIB multipass time-of-flight spectrometer was operated for the first time as a separator. Experiments conducted this year at ORNL’s ion beam facility focused on physically separating molecules of carbon monoxide and nitrogen.

1,100Number of acres from which 500 soil samples were collected supporting D&D efforts at DOE’s Battelle Columbus, Ashtabula and Fernald sites

2007 2008

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2008

2008 - ORISE planned and coordinated the execution of Diablo Bravo 2008, the first real-time deployment of DOE assets for a nuclear weapons accident exercise.

2008 - ORISE’s independent verification results supported the DOE K-25 building cleanup contractor’s conclusions that radiation from the uranium deposits that were allowed to remain within process gas equipment and pipes was below regulatory limits.

2008 - For the Defense National Stockpile Center, ORISE completed three years of characterization and final release surveys to support cleanup efforts at the Hammond and Curtis Bay Depots, which formerly housed radioactive materials. ORISE analyzed 1,200+ soil, water and structural samples. As a result, 90 railcars containing 10,000 tons of waste were shipped, and 50 facilities and 540 total acres were released. The Defense Logistics Agency presented ORISE with a Commendable Service Award.

2008 - DOE announced that the Roadrunner petaflop supercomputer, a collaborative effort between Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and IBM, was now operational and was the fastest in the world.

2008

Photo Credit: DOE-NNSA

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2008

Independent verification expertise and innovative technology provided assurance of decontamination work in K-25 pipes

DOE’s K-25 building cleanup project at the East Tennessee Technology Park was one

of the largest reindustrialization projects in the U.S. designed to remediate more than

40 years of uranium enrichment operations. This represented an enormous challenge,

given the sheer size of the facility (44 acres under one roof), dilapidated building

conditions, and radiological contamination of miles and miles of process piping and

equipment. ORISE survey experts performed extensive, independent reviews and

data validation on the contractor’s measurements, which quantified the concentration

of radionuclides remaining in the process piping. This involved conducting

nondestructive analysis through the use of a specialized, in situ gamma spectrometry

measurement system, HMS-4, to determine, without having to perform physical

sampling, how much U-235 remained after the contractor had performed chemical

decontamination of the piping. This technology provided an alternative sampling

method for piping that was otherwise inaccessible. ORISE also performed independent

laboratory analyses of foamed process pipe samples to quantify various radionuclides,

including U-234, U-235, and U-238. ORISE’s independent verification results clearly

supported the contractor’s conclusions. These findings provided assurance to DOE and

its stakeholders that the decontamination work was accurate and acceptable.

2008

ORISE exercised first real-time deployment of DOE assets for a nuclear weapons accident

ORISE served as the principal planner for the full-scale, five-day exercise, Diablo

Bravo 2008, in addition to organizing and facilitating planning conferences,

coordinating asset participation and execution, and preparing lessons learned. Held in

Washington state, Diablo Bravo 2008 was the first DOE/NNSA-sponsored, national-

level exercise to test response capabilities to a terrorist attack on nuclear weapons. The

exercise included activities enlisting the participation of a wide array of federal, state

and local agencies and organizations in a real-time deployment with the purpose of

examining roles and responsibilities outlined in the National Response Framework.

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Research Mentoring Spotlight

ORISE mentor at ORNL facilitates rewarding student research

Michael S. Smith, Ph.D.

Mentoring Profile: Mentor to more than 25 students

in ORISE-managed science education and research

participation programs at ORNL for more than 18

years.

Current Position: Laboratory Distinguished Scientist

and Group Leader in Nuclear Astrophysics, Physics

Division, ORNL

Research Area: Smith has made measurements of

the thermonuclear reactions that cause some stars to

explode. He has also designed software tools so that

researchers from around the world can run and view

explosion simulations online.

Awards: Education Champion Award, presented

by DOE, ORNL and ORAU, 2008; ORNL Scientific

Communicator of the Year, 2006; ORNL Research

Accomplishment of the Year, 2010

A Word on Mentoring: “I have found it very

rewarding to work closely with students and involve

them in my research projects, to make them true

collaborators and contributors. Some students ask

questions that really make me a better scientist,

whether forcing me to go back and do my homework

or—in some wonderful cases—taking our research in

new directions.”

2008

2008 - ORISE coordinated four reviews focused on atmospheric science, atmospheric radiation, integrated assessment and climate change prediction. As a result, DOE announced more than $6 million in research grants, which helped the nation predict and respond to climate change.

2008 - For the first time, ORISE conducted a series of community-focused influenza pandemic workshops on behalf of the CDC. The workshops were presented to community officials, emergency responders, healthcare responders and healthcare administrators and were geared toward a community’s response to an influenza pandemic on how flu might impact their local health care systems.

1.1 millionNumber of workers from

more than 500 sites for whom health studies were conducted

and resulting data managed

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2008 - Providing long-time support for DOE, NRC and other federal agency worker health programs, ORISE has conducted health studies and maintained data and records involving a combined total of more than 1.1 million workers at more than 500 sites. As DOE’s data center for worker health, ORISE manages DOE’s Radiation Exposure Monitoring System database, Human Subjects Research Database and the Beryllium Active Workers Registry, as well as NRC’s Radiation Exposure Information Reporting Database, all housed at one location.

2008 - ORISE’s Beryllium Lab nearly doubled its number of customers and performed a total of 3,464 beryllium lymphocyte proliferation tests for the diagnosis of beryllium sensitization or chronic beryllium disease. The lab was also certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act, or CLIA, guidelines.

3,464 Number of LPTs Beryllium Lab performed in one year

2008 - ORISE is recognized with its first VPP Legacy of Stars Site designation, awarded to organizations that participate in DOE’s VPP program and have received the agency’s Star of Excellence Award for three consecutive years.

2009

2009 - Steven Chu was appointed Secretary of Energy.

2009 - Homer S. Fisher was appointed to serve as interim ORAU president and CEO and director of ORISE upon the departure of Ron Townsend.

2008

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2009

2009 - DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program (originally created in 1976) was re-energized with $5 billion in ARRA funding to weatherize nearly 600,000 homes.

2009 - ORAU opened the Center for Science Education, a 73,000-square-foot facility featuring an interactive, technology-rich classroom. The center’s strongest asset is a joint partnership with DOE, ORISE and ORNL, serving as a catalyst for collaboration among all levels of science education and scientific research. The building was also the first new office building in Tennessee to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, gold-level certification.

2009 - Andy Page was promoted from vice president and director of National Security and Emergency Management Programs to ORAU president and CEO and director of ORISE.

DOE Graduate Research Fellowship established

2009

106

2009 - Secretary Chu announced $6 billion in ARRA funding to accelerate environmental cleanup work, especially of former nuclear weapons complex facilities. Chu also announced that up to $12.5 million in ARRA funding would be awarded to support at least 80 graduate fellowships to U.S. students pursuing advanced degrees in STEM through the DOE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship program, administered by ORISE.

2009 - ORISE coordinated a peer review of 80 proposals for DOE’s Innovation and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment program, which allocated nearly 900 million processor hours to 66 project teams on some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers at DOE national laboratories.

900 million Number of supercomputer processor hours awarded as a result of ORISE peer review

REAC/TS’ innovative use of ultrasonography and thermography determined level of radiation damage in patients

2009 - REAC/TS began work on an innovative research endeavor where ultrasonography and thermography were used to determine the level of radiation damage in a patient with fluoroscopy burns. The goal of this research was to establish accurate, less costly, noninvasive techniques of dose assessment and wound evaluation.

2009 2009

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2009

2009 - ORISE conducted a two-week review of two facilities competing for the opportunity to design and establish DOE’s $550 million Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, which was ultimately awarded to Michigan State. The facility will provide scientists critical information about the properties of rare isotopes not found on earth in order to better understand the origin of the elements and the evolution of the cosmos.

2009 - DOE’s Office of Worker Safety and Health tasked ORISE with expanding activities of the Industrial Hygiene/Occupational Safety Special Interest Group, which has been managed for DOE since 1986, to promote awareness of nanotechnology safety and health issues.

2009 - The DOE Oak Ridge Office Environment Management Program received $755 million in ARRA funding to accelerate cleanup and disposition of deteriorated facilities on the Oak Ridge Reservation. In support of the project, ORISE performed assessment surveys at ORNL and independent verification activities at ORNL, ETTP and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

2009 - ORISE supported 1,169 ORNL-based internships, postdoctoral appointments and other research experiences, including Joseph J. Stankovich (pictured here) who participated in both the DOE-SC Faculty and Student Teams Program and the Higher Education Research Experiences Program at ORNL.

1,169 Number of ORNL-based internships, postdoctoral appointments and other research experiences managed by ORISE

2009

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2009

ARRA funding provided jump-start for ORISE support to Oak Ridge Reservation cleanup activities

Decontaminating and decommissioning

buildings and remediating soil and

groundwater across the Oak Ridge

Reservation have long been priorities for

DOE. Though much of the work was not

expected to begin right away, the provision of

$755 million in ARRA funding for DOE’s Oak

Ridge Environmental Management Program

served to jump-start remediation activities to

dramatically reduce the number of high-risk

facilities. In support of the project, ORISE

experts led assessment surveys at ORNL

and independent verification activities at

ORNL, ETTP and the Y-12 National Security

Complex. The work involved support to DOE

in the accelerated cleanup and disposition

of deteriorated facilities that also paved the

way for greater footprint reduction across

the reservation. ORISE’s role at ORNL

involved performing waste assessments and

developing waste handling plans and profiles

at 37 facilities. At Y-12, ORISE reviewed

waste management plans and profiles and

performed independent verification of

cleanup activities.

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2009ORISE national security experts supported inauguration of President Obama

On January 20, 2009, while millions

crowded the cold streets of downtown

Washington, D.C., to watch Barack

Obama’s historic presidential

inauguration, 25 ORISE personnel

were stationed throughout the

Washington metro area engaged in the

largest deployment in the history of the

DOE Office of Emergency Response

(NA-42). The multiday action,

which embedded ORISE personnel

throughout the federal government,

spanned four states and multiple

events. While some ORISE operations

experts manned DOE’s Nuclear

Incident Team at DOE headquarters

and its alternate location, others

engaged in on-the-ground activities,

including assisting DOE’s Radiological

Assistance Program teams in providing

radiation detection support to federal

and local law enforcement agencies. In

addition, ORISE personnel represented

DOE in operation centers throughout

the government.

110

ORISE national security experts supported inauguration of President Obama

2009

2009 - ORISE supported DOE’s Office of Emergency Response (NA-42) with its largest deployment to date, a multiday effort spanning four states and multiple events, before and during President Barack Obama’s historic inauguration.

Photo Credit: Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley/Released, DoD

2009 - ORISE reached a milestone with more than 6,200 medical screening examinations for former workers from 53 different DOE sites completed since DOE’s National Supplemental Screening Program began in 2005.

2009 - REAC/TS became the primary U.S. medical contact for the IAEA Response Assistance Network (RANET) for the medical management of radiation accidents worldwide.

111

2009

2009 - Launched in celebration of ORAU’s newly opened Center for Science Education, the first annual ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover provided an investment in science education in the local community. The winning teacher—Jenny Alvey of Gresham Middle School in Knoxville, Tenn.—received $25,000 to make over her classroom with state-of-the-art technology.

2009 - ORISE Beryllium Laboratory performed 4,682 beryllium lymphocyte proliferation tests and also received accreditation from the College of American Pathologists.

2009 - ORISE increased DOE-NNSA’s leadership role in interagency exercises by successfully coordinating and executing three major exercises— Empire 09, Marble Challenge 09, and NUWAIX 09—all in a 60-day period.

2009 - ORISE coordinated a combined annual merit and peer evaluation of DOE-EERE’s Vehicle Technologies and Fuel Cell Technologies Programs. Over a five-day period, ORISE staff managed a 16-panel review of more than 300 reviewers for the evaluation of nearly 600 research projects, the results of which helped to determine the progress of the two programs.

Amount awarded to East Tennessee teacher for

Extreme Classroom Makeover

$25,000

2009

Photo Credit: DOE

112

The Early 2010s

As the nation entered the second decade of the 2000s, STEM education remained at the forefront as a potential bolster for the economy. The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act was signed in 2010, which continued strong U.S. commitments to and increased funding for STEM education and science and technology innovations. Additionally, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology released the report “Prepare and Inspire: K-12 Education in STEM for America’s Future.” Two years later, this same council followed this report with its study on “Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.”

Man-made and natural disasters stunned the world during this era. The first transpired when an explosion and fire occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The next year, a massive earthquake set off a large tsunami that flooded and damaged five active nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan. Loss of backup electrical power led to overheating and meltdowns and ultimately to the evacuation of more than 170,000 citizens in response to the nuclear crisis. Radiation levels at the site were later found to be much higher than originally calculated, calling for more assessment and analysis. A year after the Fukushima disaster, the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs forced the evacuation of 32,000 people and destroyed 346 homes, making it the most destructive fire in Colorado state history.

On the health front, the World Health Organization and CDC declared the H1N1, also known as “swine flu,” pandemic officially over. The virus ultimately caused more than 500,000 deaths worldwide.

Medical radiation response, first-response training, cleanup verification, public health communications and educational resources were all among the services provided through ORISE to help the nation and global community address these ever-changing challenges.

113

THE EARLY2010s

1992-1994

1995-1997

1998-1

999

2000-2002 2003-20

05

2006-2009

2010-2013










2010

2010 - ORISE received a second consecutive DOE-VPP Legacy of Stars award, which recognizes organizations that have been awarded the DOE-VPP Star of Excellence for Safety for three years in a row. ORISE is one of only nine DOE sites nationwide to achieve this.

2010 - Participation in ORISE science education and research programs more than doubled over the past ten years, growing by 1,500+ participants in 2010 alone. Programs managed for ORNL have also reached a record high, with more than 1,800 participants visiting the laboratory during FY10.

FY10FY09FY08FY07FY06FY05FY04FY03FY02FY01

Year Participants

7,8736,3205,2375,0164,9364,6993,8823,8003,3003,000

2010

Participation in ORISE science education programs more than doubled

2010 - DOE awarded a five-year contract option to ORAU to manage ORISE.

2010 - Energy Secretary Chu announced the new Early Career Research Program, designed to bolster the nation's scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during the crucial early career years.

2010 - ORISE assisted DOE in its decision to award 150 graduate students as the Office of Science Graduate Fellowship (SCGF) Program’s first recipients and provided support for DOE’s SCGF annual research meeting.

2010 - ORISE provided peer review capability for DOE-EERE’s funding appropriation decisions for 34 Weatherization Assistance Program training centers. ORISE managed 624 reviewers, reviewing 1,493 applications, with potential funding of awards totaling nearly $611.3 million.

Photo Credit: NETL

$611 millionPotential research funding for 34 DOE

weatherization training centers, allocated as a result of ORISE peer review

2010 2010

115

2010

2010 - DOE and ORISE emergency management personnel traveled to the Gulf of Mexico to assist incident commanders with response planning following the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and spill. Since 2007, ORISE has trained more than 600 emergency management professionals in Incident Command System best practices.

2010 - DOE announced that it has spent more than $1.5 billion in ARRA funds on cleanup projects around the country.

2010 - ORISE was selected to conduct a panel review of potential DOE nominees for the 2011 Presidential Early Career Awards in Science and Engineering.

2010 - ORISE completed radiological and chemical assessments at more than 30 ORNL structures. Work also included analysis of 200 samples from 19 parcels totaling 20,000 acres as part of ARRA-funded DOE cleanup and footprint reduction initiatives on the Oak Ridge Reservation.

20,000Number of acres on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) for which sample analyses were

completed by ORISE, reducing overall ORR footprint by

approximately 60 percent

2010

116

2010ORISE supported Gulf oil spill emergency response

On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of

Mexico killed 11 people and touched off a massive offshore oil spill that continued

for more than 12 weeks. As the tragedy unfolded, DOE and ORISE emergency

management personnel traveled to the Gulf of Mexico to assist incident commanders

with their response. With the situation evolving by the minute and response

efforts including virtually every federal agency, five states and many private sector

organizations, Deepwater Horizon exemplified the dynamic and complex nature of

emergency response. DOE responders brought expertise for applying a common

framework for command and control that minimized confusion and allowed

multiple agencies to work together, while also offering the flexibility to react to often

unpredictable circumstances. Many emergency management personnel, including

those who responded from DOE, had previously participated in Incident Command

System training facilitated by ORISE.

2010

ORISE supported award of 150 fellowships in new DOE graduate student research program

ORISE assisted in the administration of the DOE Office of Science Graduate

Fellowship program, which supports graduate students pursuing advanced degrees

important to the DOE Office of Science mission in energy, environment, national

security and discovery-driven science. ORISE’s support included the application

review process, which aided DOE in its decision to award 150 graduate students as the

program’s first recipients, and assistance with the DOE SCGF annual research meeting.

Funded in part by ARRA, each fellow received an annual stipend, partial tuition

support and a research allowance for three years. Since the program’s inception, nearly

200 students have received fellowships to further their education and research and

prepare them for future careers in science.

117

2010

2010 - First Lady Michelle Obama joined Energy Secretary Chu in asking the championship round bonus point questions at DOE’s 20th Annual National Science Bowl. Questions for the Science Bowl were developed by ORISE.

Photo Credit: White House, Samantha Appleton

“[DOE’s National Science Bowl] fuels kids’ imaginations and encourages the innovative thinking that we’ll need to meet our nation’s challenges in the years to come.” –First Lady Michelle Obama

2010 - Worker health screenings increased dramatically with more than 7,800 workers screened under DOE’s National Supplemental Screening Program since 2005. The ORISE Beryllium Laboratory had a 60 percent increase in processing capacity of beryllium lymphocyte proliferation tests between 2005 and 2010.

7,800 Number of health screenings that have been provided through ORISE since 2005 to identify occupational diseases

2010 - ORISE released a report on U.S. nuclear engineering enrollments and degrees indicating a decline in degrees awarded in 2009 but an increase in overall enrollments.

2010 - REAC/TS published a new pocket guide, The Medical Aspects of Radiation Incidents, available free in hard-copy or for download as an ePub.

2010

FY10FY09FY08FY07FY06

YearLPTs

Performed

5,0964,6823,4673,5303,106

118

2010 - To support the prevention of nuclear smuggling, ORISE experts helped countries in Europe and Asia develop response plans for nuclear smuggling incidents. ORISE also conducted workshops in Armenia, Ukraine, Georgia and other former Soviet republics that focused on the technical, political and law enforcement aspects of nuclear smuggling.

2010 - ORISE facilitated a no-notice exercise for DOE, six other federal agencies, and three state agencies—Illinois, Indiana and Iowa—to practice integrated response for locating radiological material at a range of sites including convention centers, high-rise structures, and transportation hubs. ORISE also helped facilitate a radiological search demonstration for Israel and South Africa during the 2010 Super Bowl in Miami.

2010 - ORISE supported NNSA’s National Technical Nuclear Forensics program and assisted in a training exercise to show how ground samples can be collected and tested to identify the radioactive material following the detonation of an improvised nuclear device.

2010 - ORISE security specialists and radiation medicine experts traveled to more than 25 locations worldwide in FY10 to conduct medical and security training.

2010 2010

119

2010

2010 - An ORISE-generated, award-winning campaign for traveler’s health guidance from the CDC during the pandemic flu reached more than 1 million people around the globe. Elements of the message were featured at domestic and international airports and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C.

1 millionTravelers reached with pandemic flu

health campaign

2010 - ORISE began managing DOE’s web-based Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource, providing approved users free access to extensive health and environmental studies data, including 76 health studies of more than one million DOE workers at 31 DOE facilities. ORISE has also established a proven track record as a comprehensive resource for addressing worker health needs, expanding multiple databases and managing worker health records that now total more than 3.5 million de-identified, active and former workers from hundreds of DOE sites and NRC-licensed facilities nationwide.

2011

2011 - ORISE-managed science education and research participation programs supported more than 7,700 participants representing every state in the nation. Approximately 96 percent of these participants held program appointments in STEM fields.

Diverse capabilities of ORISE called upon to enhance U.S. response to Fukushima disaster

120

3.5 millionNumber of de-identified, active and former workers from hundreds of DOE sites and NRC-licensed facilities nationwide whose worker health records are managed by ORISE

2011 - Energy Secretary Chu announced that the nation has weatherized more than 600,000 low-income homes under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

2011 - Diverse ORISE capabilities were deployed by DOE to support the U.S. response to the Japan Fukushima nuclear crisis. DOE leveraged the integrated capabilities of emergency management and radiation emergency medical response expertise, radiological characterization, and public health communication to provide support to the citizens and government of Japan, while also addressing U.S. concerns of domestic radiation emergency preparedness.

“DOE’s missions and programs are designed to bring together diverse scientists and engineers from national laboratories, academia, and the private sector in multidisciplinary teams, striving to find solutions to the most complex and pressing challenges.”—Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, 2011 DOE Strategic Plan

2011 - DOE released its 2011 Strategic Plan, which focused on addressing energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.

2011 2011

121

2011

Diverse ORISE capabilities provided integrated support for DOE’s response to Fukushima disaster

On March 11, Japan experienced

arguably one of the worst international

disasters of modern times, when an 8.9

magnitude earthquake and resulting

tsunami pummeled the island and

ultimately led to the meltdown of the

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power

Plant. With devastation comparable to

that of the Haiti earthquake, the Indian

Ocean tsunami, and the Chernobyl

nuclear accident, Japan would require

tremendous support from countries

around the globe. As the United States

responded to the rapidly unfolding

crisis, ORISE provided diverse

and comprehensive capabilities for

seamless support to DOE, other federal

agency partners, and the U.S. and

Japanese governments.

The timeline here illustrates ORISE

response activities related to the

Fukushima disaster from March 11,

2011, through August 25, 2011.

3/11

March 11—ORISE team at REAC/TS received their first request for information related to the Fukushima incident.

3/13

March 13—Members of ORISE’s national security and emergency management team were dispatched to Japan to support DOE senior energy officials and liaison officers at the U.S. Embassy in Japan and the Yokota Air Base.

3/14

March 14—ORISE’s national security and emergency management team supplied 18 personnel to support the DOE Nuclear Incident Team at DOE Headquarters, providing 24/7 assistance.

3/15

March 15—For tracking radiation exposure, DOE deployed the Radiological Assessment and Monitoring System network, a pre-existing asset ORISE first developed—in collaboration with the NNSA Office of Emergency Response—to support the operations of DOE’s Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center.

122

Diverse ORISE capabilities provided integrated support for DOE’s response to Fukushima disaster

3/16

March 16—The CDC, which activated their Joint Information Center within 24 hours of the crisis, realized they would need additional subject matter experts and asked ORISE health education specialists to help with the dissemination of radiation emergency information to the public.

3/21-24

March 21-24—ORISE’s health communication team partnered with the CDC to host “Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency Preparedness,” a national conference with forums for discussing the current state of radiation emergency preparedness, including gaps and barriers, at the local, state and federal levels.

7/11-27

July 11-27—ORISE’s environmental assessment team performed a comprehensive, 16-day radiological survey of a maritime transport ship that had been located off the coast of Japan at the time of the disaster.

8/23-25

August 23-25—At the request of Japan’s National Institute of Radiological Sciences, REAC/TS conducted radiation emergency medicine training in Japan as part of the continuing U.S. response to the Japan nuclear crisis.

Photo Credit: AP/Kyodo News

123

Emergency management response support provided for the Japan nuclear crisis

As news broke of the natural disaster and threat of nuclear crisis in

Japan, the U.S. immediately offered support. Among those tapped

to assist was ORISE’s national security and emergency management

team, which provided NNSA with technical and analytical nuclear

incident support. Within 48 hours after the earthquake, ORISE

emergency management experts accompanied the NNSA Office of

Emergency Response in deploying to Japan to support DOE senior

energy officials and liaison officers at the Yokota Air Base and the U.S.

Embassy in Japan. A separate 18-person team from ORISE supported

the NNSA Nuclear Incident Team (NIT), which had convened at DOE

Headquarters, located in Washington, D.C. Responsible for deploying

assets at the request of coordinating agencies, the NIT served as the

point of coordination for support activities, both in Japan and in the

U.S. ORISE staff rotated shifts among team members to provide 24/7

assistance to the NIT. The team supporting the NIT received the DOE

Secretarial Honor Award, presented by Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

ORISE radiation medicine experts provided advice on medical aspects of radiation exposure in Japan

Because of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, the Fukushima Daiichi

Nuclear Power Plant suffered catastrophic damage—ultimately

releasing dangerously high amounts of radioactive material that led

to the evacuation of more than 170,000 Japanese citizens within a 12-

mile radius of the crippled plant. Responding agencies were concerned

about the medical impacts of radiation exposure, the effect on food

and water safety and what action individuals could take to protect

themselves. To provide advice and consultation, the physicians and

health physicists at REAC/TS were on call 24/7 and responded to

hundreds of inquiries in the days and weeks that followed.

124

ORISE experts answered concerns about U.S. radiation emergency preparedness and public health response

Upon learning of the unstable condition of several Japanese

reactors following the earthquake and tsunami, some U.S. citizens

became concerned that radiation being released from the damaged

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant would disperse across the

Pacific Ocean. As the CDC prepared to assist in the U.S. response

effort, ORISE provided the agency with on-site staff support at its

Joint Information Center, which operated 24/7 during the event

and distributed radiation emergency information to the public.

ORAU also had a lead role in the development and execution of the

CDC’s first-ever “Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation

Emergency Preparedness” conference, which was held just 10

days after the earthquake and served as a forum for discussing the

current state of radiation emergency preparedness in the U.S. and

the unfolding crisis in Japan. During the national conference, two

White House national security senior officials personally thanked

ORISE staff for work in making the conference happen, despite

the challenges this international disaster posed for responding U.S.

agencies.

ORISE characterized U.S. maritime assets off the coast of Japan for potential radiation contamination

In the summer of 2011, ORISE’s environmental assessment team

performed a radiological survey of a ship that was located off the

coast of Japan during the days immediately following the March 11

disaster. With only a few days to mobilize, the team surveyed the

ship’s high-traffic areas, air filtration systems—which used fans and

filters to clean contaminated air outside the ship before feeding it

into inner rooms—and all nonfiltered cargo areas. Most elevated

radiation levels were found to be the result of everyday radiation that

is present in the natural environment. Contamination was found

within the filters; however, this finding indicated that the air filtration

systems effectively trapped the vast majority of contamination.

Photo Credit: AP/Kyodo News125

2011

2011 - ORISE characterized the nature, extent and specific locations of radiological and chemical contamination within DOE’s 2.8-million-square-foot legacy facility, K-33, where uranium enrichment had once taken place.

2.8 millionNumber of square feet in DOE’s K-33

facility, which was assessed by ORISE for radiological and chemical contamination

2011 - DOE-NNSA, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, and the Mexican National Commission for Nuclear Safety and Security dedicated a new emergency operations center in Mexico City to enhance cooperation between the government of Mexico and U.S. agencies to detect and prevent nuclear or radiological emergencies.

2011 - ORISE science education specialists have provided technical support for the Tennessee Science Bowl for DOE for two decades. The annual competition was established in 1991 to encourage high school students to excel and pursue careers in science and math. Winning teams have gone on to compete in DOE’s National Science Bowl each year.

2011

126

2011

ORISE tackled environmental challenges with innovation, specialized tools and techniques

Throughout FY11, ORISE experts applied

specialized techniques and knowledge of

industry tools and technologies to address

environmental project challenges. For DOE,

ORISE assessed the nature, extent and

specific locations of radiological and chemical

contamination within DOE’s 2.8-million-

square-foot legacy facility, K-33, in Oak

Ridge, Tenn., where uranium enrichment

had once taken place. For a portion of

this work, ORISE developed software that

enabled off-the-shelf land survey technology

to communicate with a standard radiation

ratemeter to map the contamination in

3-D. ORISE used a technique called waste

lot profiling on more than 164,000 tons of

hazardous material from K-33 to characterize

the content and help determine proper

disposition, which helped save project

costs and schedule. Additionally, ORISE

incorporated X-ray fluorescence technology,

in the form of a handheld device, to analyze

more than 900 individual soil or other

measurements detailing the nature and extent

of mercury contamination at the former

mercury recovery storage site at the Y-12

National Security Complex.

127


Former ORISE researcher continuing to contribute in alternative energy and nanotechnology

Charlee Bennett, Ph.D.

ORISE-managed Program: ORNL Postdoctoral

Research Associate Program

Current Position: Patent examiner, specialty in gas/

vapor deposition and etching apparatus systems for

nanotechnology, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Previous Positions:

• Associate lead in developing ORNL’s Center for

Advanced Thin Film Systems Lab

• Senior scientist in the Surface Nanoscience and

Sensor Technology Group, Chemistry Division,

Naval Research Laboratory

Key Contributions/Research/Awards:

• Research in solar technologies to help companies

reduce costs of producing alternative energy

• Research with imaging graphene surface properties

for use in sensor materials for potential bio-defense

applications

• Multiple publications including “Advanced method

for increasing the efficiency of white light quantum

dot LEDs”

• Awards including NSF-AGEP Fellowship, Xerox

Technical Minority Scholarship, NACME Sloan

Scholarship

Education: Ph.D. and M.S. in materials science and

engineering from the University of Florida; B.A. in

mathematics-physics from Agnes Scott College

2011

REAC/TS trained Mexican medical personnel in preparation for Pan American Games

2011 - In Mexico City, REAC/TS led a four-day workshop on radiological contamination and accident casualties for Mexican medical personnel in preparation for the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, which featured more than 6,000 athletes from 42 countries.

2011 - ORISE peer review experts provided support to EERE’s Geothermal Technologies Program, which this year reviewed the most projects in its history—approximately 170—representing a DOE investment of more than $350 million.

128

$350 million DOE’s investment in geothermal technologies for which ORISE peer reviewed proposals

2011 - ORNL announced that fourteen companies have joined the lab to establish the Oak Ridge Carbon Fiber Composites Consortium focused on new low-cost carbon fiber and composites materials in many different industry sectors. ORISE would later partner with ORNL and Roane State Community College to provide specialized training for a carbon fiber workforce.

2011 - Sixteen employees received a DOE Secretarial Honor Award for ORISE support for DOE’s Nuclear Incident Team and the agency’s response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor crisis in Japan.

Photo Credit: DOE

ORISE supported inaugural Energy Frontier Research Centers Summit and Forum

2011 - ORISE supported the DOE Office of Science with 36 parallel technical sessions and three poster sessions involving more than 300 posters at the inaugural “Science for Our Nation’s Energy Future: Energy Frontier Research Centers Summit and Forum.” This support allowed DOE officials, members of Congress, and more than 1,000 policy and science leaders to discuss energy challenges and promote collaboration throughout the nation’s energy enterprise.

2011 - REAC/TS health physicists and physicians supported NASA and DOE’s Advanced Launch Support Group by preparing emergency first responders for the Mars Science Lab launch.

2011 2011

129

2011

2011 - ORNL contracted with Cray Inc. to increase the Jaguar supercomputer’s science impact and energy efficiency. The upgraded system, known as Titan, would have a peak speed of 10-20 petaflops and be ready for users in early 2013.

2011 - The DOE/NNSA Emergency Management Issues Special Interest Group (EMI SIG), managed by ORISE, celebrated its 25th anniversary. Established in 1986, the EMI SIG has grown from 64 initial members to more than 1,150 members today.

2012

2012 - ORNL opened its Carbon Fiber Technology Facility, built to test cost-effective ways to manufacture the material. ORISE and Roane State Community College partnered with ORNL to provide specialized workforce development training for the facility.

Photo Credit: ORNL

2012

ORISE, ORNL, Roane State Community College partnered to develop carbon fiber workforce

ORNL’s new Carbon Fiber Technology

Facility is focused on creating carbon

fiber at a significantly reduced

manufacturing cost. To support

this effort, ORISE and Roane State

Community College in East Tennessee

have partnered with ORNL to

provide specialized training as part

of an experimental pilot project

that aims to re-energize American

manufacturing and create new jobs

in the field. The project leverages

ORNL’s materials science research

capability and the college’s ability to

train workers in advanced materials

technology. ORISE science education

specialists expanded ORNL’s existing

Laboratory Technology Program as a

vehicle for identifying, recruiting and

administering the appointments of

more than 20 participants in 2012, the

first year of operation.

131

2012

2012 - ORISE science education specialists have placed more than 8,300 students, recent graduates, postdoctoral researchers and faculty in science education and research participation programs.

2012 - DOE’s Office of Science announced 68 scientists as recipients of the Office’s Early Career Research Program, which bolsters the work of exceptional researchers during crucial early career years.

2012 - ORISE conducted independent verification services for ongoing DOE Office of Environmental Management projects to ensure property was safe for release following cleanup initiatives. This included 300 square miles of land in the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and waste storage and testing facilities at the West Valley Demonstration Project.

300Number of square miles of

land independently verified for environmental cleanup in the Hanford Nuclear Reservation

2012 - ORISE epidemiologists, in collaboration with Vanderbilt University, DOE, NRC, NASA and EPA, were selected to help design and execute a largest-of-its-kind study in the U.S. on the effects of long-term worker exposure to low-dose radiation involving more than one million workers.

1 million Number of workers being included in a largest-of-its-kind study in the U.S. on the effects of long-term worker exposure to low-dose radiation

2012

132

2012

Occupational health experts support study of radiation effects on one million U.S. workers

ORISE occupational health experts have

played a key role in the largest-of-its-kind

study in the U.S. on the effects of long-term

worker exposure to low-dose radiation.

The study population of more than one

million workers includes uranium and

plutonium workers at DOE sites, nuclear

weapons test workers, nuclear power plant

workers, and industrial radiographers,

radiologists, and other medical practitioners.

Study results could directly impact worker

health regulations and may have potential

implications for public health as well.

Partnering in the study design and execution

is the study originator John D. Boice, Jr., a

professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University

and president of the National Council on

Radiation Protection and Measurements.

Boice sought the assistance of ORISE

occupational health experts because of

their 40+ years of expertise in managing

epidemiology programs for DOE and

managing and integrating worker health

data for several federal agencies. DOE, NRC,

NASA and EPA are also collaborating on the

study, and the results could be combined with

results from similar studies in other countries

to add to the global database of knowledge in

worker and public health.

133

2012

ORISE radiation emergency medicine experts prepared health professionals worldwide for radiation incidents

When the staff at REAC/TS are not responding

to radiation emergencies, they are conducting

training and research to advance the medical

management of radiation emergencies that might

occur anywhere in the world. In 2012, more than

350 medical professionals and administrators in

countries such as Kuwait, Singapore and Thailand

attended 3-4 days of intense REAC/TS training

on medical emergency response to radiological/

nuclear events. In addition to international

outreach training, REAC/TS also trained more

than 1,750 health professionals and emergency

responders across the United States. Staff at the

ORISE Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory

also worked with counterparts around the world,

including contributions to the research of Dr.

Sitoshi Tashiro, Hiroshima University, Japan, on a

modified system for analyzing ionizing radiation-

induced chromosome abnormalities, which was

published in the May 2012 issue of Radiation

Research.

REAC/TS by the Numbers 1976 - 2013• 37 years of operation• 13,600 health professionals and emergency responders from

the U.S. and 66 foreign countries trained• 450 courses delivered• 2,622 calls for assistance answered• 5 international conferences hosted on the medical basis for

radiation accident preparedness hosted

134

350 Number of medical professionals who received international REAC/TS training on radiation emergency medicine and response in 2012

2012

2012 - ORISE experts supported DOE-NNSA in delivering a series of exercises known as Amber Waves, which were designed to foster interagency collaboration as well as coordination with community organizations in the immediate aftermath of a radiological emergency.

2012 - Experts at the ORISE Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory collaborated with researchers at Hiroshima University in Japan on a modified system for analyzing ionizing radiation-induced chromosome abnormalities. The research findings were published in the May 2012 issue of Radiation Research.

135

Science Education Spotlight

ORISE intern does “extraordinary things” in energy efficiency

Justin Vadas

Earlham College undergraduate Justin Vadas researched

how to replace conventional air conditioning systems

with magnetic regeneration air conditioning, a more

efficient technology. His research was part of his 2012

summer appointment to DOE’s Science Undergraduate

Laboratory Internship Program at ORNL, administered

by ORISE. “Being able to explain how our world works

is what drew me to science,” Vadas said. “…The ability to

use this knowledge to do extraordinary things is such a

big motivator.”

Vadas is one of an elite group of more than 8,300

students, recent graduates, postdoctoral researchers and

faculty in science education and research participation

programs offered at national laboratories and research

centers and sponsored by DOE and other federal

agencies. Ninety-six percent of these individuals are

performing research in STEM-related fields.

2012

2012 - As part of an expansion of DOE’s long-standing Weatherization Assistance Program, ORISE provided training and technical assistance for more than 400 instructors and directors in weatherization training centers across the country.

2012 - Impacting funding decisions for hundreds of millions of dollars in research, ORISE managed peer reviews involving 380 reviewers evaluating 450 projects in hydrogen and fuel cells and other vehicle technologies for DOE-EERE. ORISE also provided peer review for nominations of 90 scientists and engineers for DOE’s national award programs including the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the Fermi Awards, and the Lawrence Awards.

FY12 Participants by Category

UndergraduatesGraduate StudentsRecent GraduatesPostdoctoral FellowsUniversity FacultyOther ScientistsK-12 StudentsK-12 Teachers

1,1819801,6731,6782264471,497649

136

8,300 Number of students, recent graduates, postdoctoral researchers and faculty placed by ORISE in science education and research programs in 2012

2012 - Staff from ORISE’s Emergency Management Laboratory served in the Joint Information Center supporting the emergency response effort to the massive Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.

2013

2013 - ORISE supported safety and security efforts at the 2013 presidential inauguration as well as the president’s State of the Union address through the DOE-NNSA Nuclear Incident Team.

2013 - Ernest Moniz appointed Secretary of Energy.

2012

137

2013

200 students spent Saturdays engaged in science through free workshops

2013 - More than 200 middle and high school students attended a series of free Science Saturdays presented by ORISE in partnership with ORNL. This program engaged students with nearly 30 top scientists to learn about such topics as climate change, radiation detection, robotics and biofuels.

Photo Credit: ORNL

“Supporting the next-generation nuclear energy workforce plays a critical role in maintaining American leadership in clean energy innovation and the safe and secure use of nuclear power worldwide.”—Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz

2013 - Energy Secretary Moniz spoke to the International Atomic Energy Agency on global nuclear security, outlining the need to secure vulnerable materials, decrease the number of nuclear weapons and build a sustainable and secure nuclear energy industry.

2013 - ORISE developed web application systems to facilitate the selection process for the DOE Office of Science Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS)-sponsored internship and fellowship programs at DOE national laboratories. To date, three WDTS programs are using the new system and 2,106 applications have been completed, from which 772 participants have been selected for fellowships at 16 national laboratories.

2013 - ORISE created the Radiation Protection Special Interest Group (RP SIG) to support the sharing of occupational radiation safety and health information within the DOE community. In its first year, nearly 150 highly specialized radiation protection professionals from across the DOE complex have already joined the RP SIG.

2013

138

2013 - ORISE coordinated the Early Career Research Program peer reviews for all six program offices of DOE-SC. The combined effort, which involved 767 projects and 1,033 reviewers, resulted in 61 scientists receiving awards worth up to $15.3 million over five years.

767 The number of projects that

were peer reviewed by ORISE for DOE’s Office of Science

Early Career Research Program

2013 - The ORISE Radiological and Environmental Analysis Laboratory analyzed 137 pipe samples and 23 water samples from the K-27 site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., for isotopic uranium, technetium-99, and overall radiological content.

2013 - In its first full year, the Million Worker Study finalized project scope to include creating a registry that will capture 70+ years of worker radiation data, dating from 1942 to present. The precedent-setting study also will include an assessment of internal organ dosage—the first of its kind—that will incorporate internal and external exposure to derive an overall organ dose.

2013 - ORISE supported DOE-SC’s implementation of an electronic grants management system called the Portfolio Analysis and Management System. ORISE tested the system’s peer review functionality and organized two peer review panels for piloting the new platform—an effort that involved a combined 48 proposals, 37 reviewers and $8 million in anticipated federal funding awards.

2013 2013

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2013

ORISE helped facilitate $15 million in research funds awarded to boost nation’s scientific workforce

In 2013, ORISE coordinated the

Early Career Research Program peer

reviews that enabled all six program

offices of DOE-SC to award $15.3

million to 61 scientists over five years

for various research programs. The

process involved 767 projects and

1,033 reviewers and directly aided

DOE’s ability to support the President’s

Council of Advisors on Science and

Technology directive to bolster the

nation’s scientific workforce. The

program, designed to specifically

address the need to build the next-

generation scientists and to stay

competitive in the global research

arena, focuses on the researchers

during critical early career years

when many scientists do their most

formative work. Research topics

include advanced scientific computing

research, basic energy sciences,

biological and environmental research,

fusion energy services, high energy

physics and nuclear physics.

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ORISE helped facilitate $15 million in research funds awarded to boost nation’s scientific workforce

2013

ORISE conducted independent assessment of ORNL’s 12,000-square-foot Isotope Row

2013 - ORISE processed 106 samples from nine Isotope Row facilities at ORNL for full-suite radiological analyses and Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure metal analysis. Data collected from the assessment was used to plan facility dismantlement and develop waste-handling plans that would open the 12,000-square-foot area for further expansion and modernization of ORNL.

2013 - ORISE published its final Worker Health Summary, a ten-year report of DOE complex-wide occupational health data collected on more than 136,000 individuals through the DOE Illness and Injury Surveillance Program. Over the 20 years of the program’s existence 217,000 DOE workers were assessed.

217,000 The number of individuals assessed for occupational worker health at 14 DOE sites during the 20 years of its Illness and Injury Surveillance Program

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2013

2013 - REAC/TS staff appointed to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation to study the effects of Fukushima radiation on workers, first responders and the local Fukushima populations.

2013 - REAC/TS designed a collaborative chromosome analysis platform and conducted an exercise scenario entirely online with cytogeneticists from international laboratories spanning four continents. Six countries—Argentina, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and the U.S.—participated in the exercise, which demonstrated that the labor-intensive task of “scoring” chromosome images can be done online from various locations. This would prove invaluable during a mass radiation exposure event.

2013 - REAC/TS conducted radiation emergency medical response training, known as International Medical Training or I-Med Training funded by NNSA. The training, held in Armenia, Austria, China, Mexico, Taiwan and Vietnam, helped more than 250 physicians, nurses and emergency responders prepare for a possible nuclear and radiological incidence response.

ORISE completed independent verification on 76 acres within the DOE complex

2013 - ORISE continued to support DOE’s cleanup mission across the complex by completing independent verification for 76 acres, more than 3,500-square-feet of facilities and 13 legacy liquid waste containers. The work, which totaled more than 37,000 field and laboratory-related safe-work hours, was completed with the help of several ORISE innovations such as a large-volume gamma detector that can be pulled behind a vehicle for surveying large land-areas and a nonintrusive method for quantifying radioactivity in pipes and ductwork.

37,000Number of safe-work hours

logged by ORISE staff on environmental cleanup

verification for DOE

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2013

International, online exercise helped cytogeneticists assess radiation exposure estimation

Can virtual technology effectively bring together

the collective knowledge of cytogeneticists

from around world to address a mass radiation

exposure? That was the question ORISE and

REAC/TS staff wanted to answer. As one of only

two federally funded facilities, the Cytogenetic

Biodosimetry Laboratory managed by ORISE

for DOE in Oak Ridge, Tenn., provides

cytogenetic biodosimetry to calculate the

radiation dose received by individuals exposed

to ionizing radiation. However, if these labs

were not operational or the incident required

additional resources, the nation may need to

call upon a global support system to provide

that same capability. To determine how such a

scenario could work with international partners

through a virtual setting, staff designed a

collaborative chromosome analysis platform

that accommodated an international exercise

involving the difficult task of scoring of

abnormal chromosomes used for radiation dose

estimation. Cytogeneticists from six laboratories,

located in Argentina, Canada, Germany, Great

Britain, Japan and the U.S., participated in

the exercise, which was coordinated entirely

online. Scientists were given a specific scenario

and asked to evaluate certain samples for

abnormal chromosomes, also known as

“dicentric” chromosomes, in order to estimate

the patient’s radiation dose. The exercise

proved very successful and demonstrated that

the time needed to complete the most labor-

intensive step of the method, which is “scoring”

of chromosome images, can be reduced

dramatically by taking advantage of the Internet.

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Research Spotlight

ORISE fellow is helping to solve the nation’s nuclear waste storage challenges

Amelia Hayes

Amelia Hayes, an undergraduate student in

geology at New Mexico State University, spent a

year of her studies helping the country deal with its

nuclear waste. As a research participant in DOE’s

Carlsbad Field Office Fellowship Program (CBFO),

administered by ORISE, Hayes performed water

content analysis at DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot

Plant (WIPP). Her efforts helped scientists better

understand under what conditions spent fuel from

commercial reactors or high-level commercial

nuclear waste could be stored at WIPP long term.

Located in a 600-meter-deep salt bed, this facility is

seen as a potential waste repository option for spent

fuel from commercial reactors because of its many

geological features that create a stable location.

Hayes’ task was to help identify viable research

methods so scientists can determine what the water

found in the salt bed will do if nuclear waste were

to heat the surrounding salt. The result could take

scientists one step closer to solutions for the nation’s

long-term storage of nuclear waste. “Once I finish

my undergraduate degree, I plan on pursuing my

master’s,” she said. “My experience with CBFO is

helping make my decision of whether I will go into

geochemistry or another geological field.”

2013

2013 - ORISE led the planning and execution of a no-notice exercise for the DOE-NNSA Office of Emergency Operations, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Alaska Aerospace Corporation. This exercise was designed to validate the use of the NNSA Aerial Measuring System radiation sensing equipment on board a Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter based at Air Station Kodiak in Alaska.

2013 - REAC/TS, with support from the CDC, conducted the Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism course for more than 1,000 medical students, physicians, medical personnel, emergency managers and first responders at medical schools in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. The two-day course is designed to familiarize participants with emergency medical response to toxic exposures.

ORISE trained senior leaders at the White House complex for integrated response

144

2013 - In response to budget uncertainties and reduced government spending, ORISE executed virtual meetings and teleconferences for more than 420 attendees for DOE peer reviews and other events to reduce costs associated with travel. In FY 2013, the average cost for travel, hotel, audio/visual and other miscellaneous logistics for 10 reviewers to attend a one-day, on-site panel review in Washington, D.C., could run nearly $40,000. This resulted in potential savings for DOE of approximately $1.6 million.

$1.6 millionPotential savings for DOE as a result of ORISE’s increase in virtual meetings

2013 - During its 37-year history, REAC/TS has trained more than 13,600 first responders and medical personnel in radiation emergency preparedness from every state in the nation and 66 countries worldwide. Nearly 70 percent of these individuals were trained within the last 10 years by incorporating virtual technology tools into the training program along with on-site training.

2013 - For DOE-NNSA, ORISE designed and developed a tabletop exercise held at the White House complex with senior leaders in the U.S. government to validate the management concept of an integrated response known as the Interagency Domestic Radiological/Nuclear Search Plan.

2013 2013

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