Department of Nuclear Engineering
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[Seminar] Nuclear Incident Response, or How I Learned to Love Worrying and Stop the Bomb
October 8, 2020 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
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Dr. Bill Beal
Principal Scientist
Mission Support and Test Services, LLC
Abstract
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation is responsible for responding to nuclear incidents and accidents, domestically and internationally, in support of national security and public health and safety. The Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL), managed under the Nevada National Security Site, plays a critical role in fulfilling those responsibilities on behalf of NNSA. Dr. Beal will present examples of RSL’s programs and activities in support of the “left-of-boom” counter-WMD mission, as well as the “right-of-boom” consequence management mission following a radioactive release. Programs include the Nuclear Search Program, which employs advanced radiological search techniques, data analysis, and advice, the Aerial Measuring System, which conducts mapping of terrestrial radiation from aerial platforms, and the Consequence Management Response Team, the initial deploying element of the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center, a federal interagency asset which assists state, local and tribal governments in protecting the health and safety of their citizens following a radioactive release.
Biography
Dr. Bill Beal is a physicist supporting radiological emergency response from the U.S. Department of Energy / National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Remote Sensing Laboratory at Joint Base Andrews in Washington, DC. Over the last fifteen years, he has worked on several programs spanning a broad mission spectrum, from radiological search to aerial radiological measurement to post-incident radiological monitoring and dose assessment. He spent over two months supporting the U.S. government’s response to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, including three weeks with the deployed NNSA team in Tokyo, Japan. He continues to support the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center as a scientist, instructor and liaison.
Dr. Beal received his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from NC State for research performed under Dr. Gary Mitchell at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory in Durham, NC.
Thursday, October 8. 2020
4:00 pm seminar