Education

B.S.M.E., Union College, 1967
Ph.D., Reactor Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1972
M.S., Numerical Methods, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1970
M.B.A., Northeastern University, 1983

Research Interests

Advanced Nuclear Energy Plants

The future of nuclear energy depends upon deploying new advanced reactor plant designs that are competitive while at the same time are safe using melt-free cores, do not contribute to proliferation, and produce waste forms that are directly disposable. Currently, research is being conducted on a modular high temperature gas cooled pebble bed reactor. Students and faculty are engaged in research on core neutronics design, thermal hydraulics, fuel performance, economics, non-proliferation, and waste disposal. The objective of this research is to develop a conceptual design of a 110 Mwe pebble bed nuclear plant which could be used as a demonstration of its practicality and competitiveness with natural gas. Should the concept be successful, the design and construction of a full scale reactor research facility would be pursued by a MIT led consortium of universities, national laboratories, and industries. This research involves international collaborations with Germany, Russia, China, Japan, and South Africa.

Teaching Interests

Reactor Physics, Reactor Engineering, Safety Analysis, Economics, Waste Disposal, and Non-Proliferation.

Selected Lectures

1. "What's a Safety Culture? How do I Get It? How Do I Keep It?" Presented to the Nuclear Nonoperating Owner's Group, Boston, September 1989.
2. "Self Assessment - A Challenge to Human Nature," ANS Conference, San Diego, California, November 1993.
3. "Engineering Excellence," ANS Executive Conference on Engineering Excellence, Jupiter Beach, Florida, October 1993.
4. "The Quality of Management - The Next Self Assessment Challenge," American Nuclear Society Executive Conference, Self Assessment for Self Assurance, La Jolla, California, December 1990.
5. "Promoting Professionalism and Credibility in the Engineering Organization," INPO Workshop, Atlanta, Georgia, May 1990.
6. "Is Technology Enough? What About Management?" 16th Reactor Operations International Topical Meeting, August 1993.
7. "Risk Management in Electric Utility Decommissioning," ANS Executive Conference, May 1995.
8. "The Atom and Human Values," 60th Steinmetz Memorial Lecture, Union College, October 1992.
9. "The Safety Goal as a Regulation," ANS Executive Conference, March 1994.
10. "The Science and Politics of High Level Waste," International Conference on High Level Radioactive Waste Disposal, May 1996.
11. "The U.S. NRC's Nuclear Regulator Research - Accomplishments and Needs," ANS/ENS International Meeting, November 1996.
12. "An Intergenerational Approach to High Level Waste Disposal (that Might Work)," A Symposium on Advances in Nuclear Technology, MIT April 1997.
13. "The Future of Nuclear Power in a Deregulated World," January 22, 1998, Idaho Falls American Nuclear Society Local Section.
14. "Safety and Compliance," Panel lecture June 8, 1998, American Nuclear Society Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN.
15. "Equity in Waste Management Decisions," March 1998, Waste Management Symposia, Tucson, Arizona.