Previous Page View
Printer Friendly| Release date: | May 12, 2004 | |
| Contact: | Judith Graybeal (509) 375-4351 |
|
PNNL names international expert to head nuclear nonproliferation programs
Thomas E. Shea (5"x7" 300 dpi image available from PNNL's Photo Library ). |
RICHLAND, Wash. — Thomas E. Shea has been named director for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Programs at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Shea's experience in international safeguards and nonproliferation includes 24 years at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria.
PNNL conducts more than $150 million in research for the National Nuclear Security Administration's Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. The programs focus on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and terrorism, as well as on nuclear safety and the disposition of materials used in nuclear weapons.
"PNNL has a reputation for sound science, and I'm looking forward to enhancing the support we provide in addressing significant proliferation issues," Shea said.
At IAEA, Shea helped to establish the basic IAEA safeguards concepts and developed the methods and techniques for implementing IAEA safeguards at plutonium reprocessing plants and uranium enrichment facilities. He was responsible for safeguards implementation in several nations, including Japan, India and Indonesia.
Shea led development of new IAEA verification systems for nuclear materials released from defense programs in the Russian Federation and the United States, as well as the IAEA technical investigations on a future Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty and verification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. He also served on a United Nations Security Council panel on disarmament in Iraq.
Shea is a Fellow of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management and founder and past chairman of the organization's Vienna chapter. He earned a master's degree in nuclear engineering and a doctorate in nuclear science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.
PNNL is a DOE Office of Science laboratory that solves complex problems in energy, national security, the environment and life sciences by advancing the understanding of physics, chemistry, biology and computation. PNNL employs 3,800, has a $600 million annual budget, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. (www.pnl.gov).
 |
 |
 |
