Oak Ridge National Laboratory
12/11/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 12/12/2024 08:43
Nuclear policy certificate opens opportunities for ORNL staff
December 12, 2024
Three staff members from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are gaining an additional perspective on nuclear security thanks to a new educational opportunity. ORNL's National Security Sciences Directorate partnered with the University of Tennessee's Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs to develop a graduate certificate in nuclear security that launched in the fall of 2024.
The certificate is intended for ORNL staff and UT students interested in obtaining an understanding of nuclear nonproliferation, the technical and policy methods employed by the international community to prevent nuclear material from being used outside of medicine, research or other peaceful means.
"The missions we serve require creative new ways of looking at issues and a workforce prepared to address emerging challenges from many perspectives," said Jared Johnson, nuclear nonproliferation program director at ORNL. "We're thrilled to partner with the Baker School to launch a graduate certificate in nuclear security."
Doug Harris works as a nuclear fuel cycle analyst in the Field Intelligence Operations Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
The ORNL nuclear nonproliferation team contributed to development of the certificate, bringing unique expertise and experience from decades of work in the field and within policy. ORNL's nuclear nonproliferation division and its groups span materials science, treaty verification and physical security capabilities, with work executed domestically and internationally. This work ensures the lab can continue to innovate within nuclear science while detecting potential threats before they're realized.
As part of the inaugural cohort, ORNL's National Security Sciences Academy, a workforce development program, financially sponsored three staff members to obtain the certificate. Interested staff submitted letters of interest, and a committee selected Doug Harris, Abbie Faxon and Richard Reed as recipients.
Harris, a nuclear fuel cycle analyst, had a background in intelligence, informing nuclear policymakers before coming to ORNL. He said the certificate program will provide insight into the decision-making side of nuclear policy, a side he's previously not had access to.
"With intelligence, you're never allowed to prescribe policy," Harris said. "You can give options, alternatives, opportunities and let (policymakers) know what's possible and what the likely outcomes are of those choices.
"Then the decision's up to them."
Abbie Faxon is a remote sensing technical professional in the Geospatial Science and Human Security Division. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Faxon came into the certificate program from another side of nuclear nonproliferation. She specializes in remote sensing and is part of a combined geospatial and nuclear nonproliferation group at ORNL colloquially known as GeoNonPro. Faxon applies her remote sensing knowledge by capturing and running analysis on satellite images to help ensure nuclear materials around the world are used safely and securely for peaceful purposes. Faxon said the certificate will allow her to fill in knowledge gaps to better serve the GeoNonPro team.
"My background coming into the lab was environmental geology, so I have no background in public policy," she said. "Switching gears into this more philosophical, more policy-based education has been interesting. In the courses so far, everything has been highly relevant to the work we do."
Reed, a self-proclaimed "neutron guy," echoed Faxon's experience in a lack of policy instruction during his graduate studies. However, he previously whetted his appetite for nuclear policy three years ago in a two-week program at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Reed, a nuclear engineer at ORNL, models nuclear reactors to help inspectors verify the reactors are producing nuclear material for peaceful purposes. When he saw the Baker School policy certificate program opportunity, he jumped at the chance to further build his knowledge.
"If I'm supposed to be helping develop methods and techniques that are going to be used or implemented by policy folks, I should know how to speak their language," Reed said.
Richard Reed works a nonproliferation nuclear engineer in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Division at ORNL. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
The 12-hour certificate includes four courses over two years, one class each fall and spring semester. The courses cover U.S. national security policy, nuclear policy deterrence, administrative law and regulatory policymaking, and nuclear nonproliferation and safeguards. After a few weeks of their first course, each of the ORNL-sponsored recipients noted how the discussion- and even debate-based format contrasted the courses they took in the hard sciences.
"It was very rare in most of my (former) classes to debate on what is the right thing," Reed said.
Faxon noted the certificate program has also helped the trio draw connections to their work at the lab in innovative ways.
"The most interesting part of it has been seeing how this coursework applies to all our career paths and then being able to connect what we do individually," she said. "We were chosen because we have diverse backgrounds both in education and in what we do at the lab, so seeing the connections has been telling."
Faxon also noted the knowledge she's gaining is already opening doors for her in nuclear nonproliferation. Since she began the certificate program, she has been invited to apply her skills in remote sensing to nuclear nonproliferation discussions, events and projects.
This seems to be a natural conclusion for Harris, who said the certificate program will help bridge the gap that often exists between scientists and policymakers who need to meet in the middle to make effective, high-stakes decisions.
"I think especially on the technical side, whether it's theoretical physics or more application engineering-oriented stuff, while we have that science knowledge, oftentimes we struggle to see how that becomes relevant to policymakers," he said. "If we can better understand how policy decisions are made, then we can better do our jobs here to support them in the ways they need."
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. - Audrey Carson