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Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Final Report (2001)

Chapter: Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10143.
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Appendix C

Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

Garrick, B. John, Chair, independent consultant, was a co-founder of PLG, Inc., an international engineering, applied science, and management consulting firm formerly in Newport Beach, California. He retired as president and chief executive officer in 1997. He received his B.S. degree in physics from Brigham Young University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering and applied science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is a graduate of the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology. His professional interests involve risk assessment in fields such as nuclear energy, space and defense, chemical and petroleum and transportation. He is a past president of the Society for Risk Analysis. Dr. Garrick is a fellow of three professional societies and has received numerous awards, including the Society for Risk Analysis' Distinguished Achievement Award. He was appointed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste in 1994, of which he is now chairman. Dr. Garrick was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1993. He has been a member of the committee on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant since 1989.

Mark D. Abkowitz, professor of civil engineering at Vanderbilt University and director of the Center for Environmental Management Studies, has an extensive background in environmental risk management, use of advanced information technologies in crisis management, and strategic and operational deployment of intelligent transportation systems. Dr. Abkowitz has been involved in hazardous materials transport education, research, product development, and technology transfer for manufacturers, transporters, regulators, and emergency response personnel. He has authored more than 70 journal publications and study reports, covering issues such as the risks of transporting high-level radioactive waste. Dr. Abkowitz has served on several national and international technical and advisory committees, including as chairman of the NRC Transportation Research Board standing committee on hazardous materials transport.

Alfred W. Grella, independent nuclear and hazardous materials transportation consultant, retired in 1990 from a career in U.S. government service, first at the DOT and later at the USNRC. His distinguished career spans 40 years as a professional in health physics, health protection, transportation, in-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10143.
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spection and enforcement, training, and related regulatory activities. Mr. Grella received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Connecticut and completed the one-year management program at the National Defense University Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He has authored more than 30 published papers. He is a member of the American Nuclear Society and a fellow of the Health Physics Society. In 1965, the American Board of Health Physics awarded Mr. Grella certification as a health physicist. Mr. Grella received the M. Sacid (Sarge) Ozker Award in 1996 for distinguished service and eminent achievement in the field of radioactive waste management.

Michael P. Hardy, president of Agapito Associates, Inc., has experience in characterization, numerical modeling, design, and field experimentation for underground mines and high-level nuclear waste repositories at the BWIP site near Hanford, Washington, and Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Dr. Hardy is a member of the Society of Mining, Metallurgical and Exploration Engineers, Inc., and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He is a former chairman of the Underground Technical Research Council, a joint ASCE-American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers committee. Dr. Hardy received his bachelor of engineering from the University of Adelaide in Australia and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in geoengineering.

Stanley Kaplan is one of the early practitioners of the discipline now known as quantitative risk assessment and a major contributor to its theory, language, philosophy, and methodology. Dr. Kaplan is a fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis and author of a number of seminal papers in this field. He is one of the first American contributors to the Russian science TRIZ, the Theory of the Solution of Inventive Problems, and currently consults and teaches in this area. He is a founder and board chairman of Bayesian Systems, Inc., a Washington-based company developing diagnostic, decision, simulation, and business management software. Dr. Kaplan is the recipient of several awards and honors, including the Society for Risk Analysis' Distinguished Achievement Award in 1996. Dr. Kaplan was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1999.

Howard M. Kingston, professor of chemistry and director of the Duquesne Environmental Research and Education Center at Duquesne University, has expertise in analytical chemistry techniques in environmental applications of hazardous waste characterization and remediation. His research interests include the development, automation, and standard encapsulation and transfer of analytical analysis methods. For the past several years, he has been actively involved in advancing the area of microwave sample preparation through basic research and the development of procedures that have been adopted by the EPA as standard methods. He has received numerous awards for his pioneering work and holds multiple patents in the fields of speciation, microwave chemistry, and chelation chromatography. He has co-edited and co-authored two of the American Chemical Society professional reference texts.

W. John Lee, Peterson Chair and professor of petroleum engineering at Texas A&M University, has expertise in petroleum reservoir analysis, pressure transient testing, and enhanced recovery methods. His professional experience includes research, operations, and consulting at Exxon Company U.S.A. and S.A. Holditch & Associates. He has received numerous awards from the Society of Petroleum Engineers, including the Reservoir Engineering Award, the Distinguished Service Award, the John F. Carll Award, Distinguished Membership, Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, Distinguished Lecturer, and Honorary Membership. He is a member of the Georgia Tech Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni and he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1993.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10143.
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Page 130

Milton Levenson, independent consultant, is a chemical engineer with more than 50 years of experience in nuclear energy and related fields. His technical experience includes work in nuclear safety, fuel cycle, water reactor technology, advanced reactor technology, remote control technology, and sodium reactor technology. His professional experience includes research and operations positions at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Argonne National Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute, and Bechtel. Mr. Levenson is past president of the American Nuclear Society; a fellow of the American Nuclear Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; and recipient of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' Robert E. Wilson Award. He is the author of more than 150 publications and presentations and holds three U.S. patents. He received his B.Ch.E. from the University of Minnesota. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1976.

Werner F. Lutze, professor of chemical and nuclear engineering at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and director of the UNM Center for Radioactive Waste Management, has more than 25 years of research experience in materials science and geochemical issues relevant to the management of radioactive wastes, including selective mineral ion-exchange processes, repository near-field chemistry, waste form development, and trace analyses. He has published widely on weapons plutonium immobilization, waste disposal, and the chemistry of nuclear materials. Professor Lutze is a member of several professional organizations, including the Materials Research Society, the German Nuclear Society, and Sigma Xi.

Kimberly Ogden, associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the University of Arizona, has conducted research with Los Alamos National Laboratory collaborators to design treatment methods for remediating hazardous waste sites containing both toxic metals and organic materials, including plutonium-cellulose mixtures. She is also engaged in research investigating the merger of the semiconductors and biotechnology. Professor Ogden has authored or co-authored several book chapters, journal articles, and presentations. She is a member of several professional organizations including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Society of Engineering Education, and the American Chemical Society. She received her B.S.E degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Colorado.

Martha Scott, associate professor of oceanography at Texas A&M University, is a researcher in marine radiochemistry and geochemistry. Her present research involves radionuclide distribution in the Russian Arctic. Her work has dealt with the interaction between oceans and rivers, transport of materials in the marine environment, and chemistry of manganese nodules. The behavior of plutonium isotopes in rivers, estuaries, and marine sediments has been one of her longstanding research interests. She served for two years as an associate program director for chemical oceanography at the National Science Foundation (1992-1993). She received her Ph.D. degree from Rice University and was a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at Yale University.

John M. Sharp, Jr., Chevron Centennial Professor of Geology, leads an active program in hydrogeology at The University of Texas at Austin. Professor Sharp has authored and co-authored more than 250 journal articles, books, reports, and presentations. His current research interests include characterization of groundwater flow and transport in fractured and karstic rocks; thermohaline free convection, hydrogeology of semi-arid zones, subsidence, and the effects of man on groundwater systems. He is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and recipient of its O.E. Meinzer Award (1979) and the American Institute of Hydrology's C.V. Theis Award (1996). Dr. Sharp is currently the editor of Environmental and Engineering Geoscience and the 2000 AT&T Industrial Ecology Fellow. He received his

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10143.
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bachelor of geological engineering with distinction from the University of Minnesota and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from the University of Illinois.

Paul G. Shewmon, emeritus professor of materials science and engineering at the Ohio State University, received a B.S. degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of Illinois and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, also in metallurgical engineering, from the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He has lead work on fast breeder reactor materials at Argonne National Laboratory and served for 16 years on the USNRC's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. He has published 130 technical papers and two textbooks generally in the area of physical metallurgy and has received numerous awards for his research. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1979.

James E. Watson, Jr., professor of environmental sciences and engineering and director of the air, radiation, and industrial hygiene program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, holds a M.S. degree in physics from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in environmental sciences and engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professor Watson is accomplished in the fields of environmental radioactivity and radioactive waste management. He has received several awards for excellence in teaching, research, and service. He is a past president of the Health Physics Society and a past chairman of the Radiological Health Section of the American Public Health Association. He has served on the EPA's Radiation Advisory Committee and Executive Committee of the Agency's Science Advisory Board. He is a past chairman of the North Carolina Radiation Protection Commission and currently chairs the commission's Committee on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management.

Ching H. Yew, an independent consultant and emeritus Halliburton professor of engineering mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin, received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the National Taiwan University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from Cornell University and the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Yew has specialized in solid mechanics and experimental mechanics, is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Dr. Yew has authored a book on the mechanics of hydraulic fracturing and published many articles concerning hydraulic fracturing and borehole stability.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10143.
×
Page 128
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10143.
×
Page 129
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10143.
×
Page 130
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2001. Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10143.
×
Page 131
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The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a deep underground mined facility for the disposal of transuranic waste resulting from the nation's defense program. Transuranic waste is defined as waste contaminated with transuranic radionuclides with half-life greater than 20 years and activity greater than 100 nanocuries per gram. The waste mainly consists of contaminated protective clothing, rags, old tools and equipment, pieces of dismantled buildings, chemical residues, and scrap materials. The total activity of the waste expected to be disposed at the WIPP is estimated to be approximately 7 million curies, including 12,900 kilograms of plutonium distributed throughout the waste in very dilute form. The WIPP is located near the community of Carlsbad, in southeastern New Mexico. The geological setting is a 600-meter thick, 250 million-year-old saltbed, the Salado Formation, lying 660 meters below the surface.

The National Research Council (NRC) has been providing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) scientific and technical evaluations of the WIPP since 1978. The committee's task is twofold: (1) to identify technical issues that can be addressed to enhance confidence in the safe and long-term performance of the repository and (2) to identify opportunities for improving the National Transuranic (TRU) Program for waste management, especially with regard to the safety of workers and the public.

This is the first full NRC report issued following the certification of the facility by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 18, 1998. An interim report was issued by the committee in April 2000 and is reproduced in this report. The main findings and recommendations from the interim report have been incorporated into the body of this report. The overarching finding and recommendation of this report is that the activity that would best enhance confidence in the safe and long-term performance of the repository is to monitor critical performance parameters during the long pre-closure phase of repository operations (35 to possibly 100 years). Indeed, in the first 50 to 100 years the rates of important processes such as salt creep, brine inflow (if any), and microbial activity are predicted to be the highest and will be less significant later. The committee recommends that the results of the on-site monitoring program be used to improve the performance assessment for recertification purposes. These results will determine whether the need for a new performance assessment is warranted. For the National TRU Program, the committee finds that the DOE is implementing many of the recommendations of its interim report. It is important that the DOE continue its efforts to improve the packaging, characterization, and transportation of the transuranic waste.

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