The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) is an asset of the U.S. Department of Energy that provides expertise in STEM workforce development, scientific and technical reviews, and the evaluation of radiation exposure and environmental contamination. [1] Located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, ORISE was established in 1992 to support DOE's mission by prepare the next generation of STEM professionals and by collaborating with the DOE Office of Science and other DOE programs, federal agencies, the scientific community, and industry to address scientific initiatives. [2]
The ORISE mission is focused on five areas that support the U.S. Department of Energy's overall mission. Mission areas include recruiting and preparing the next generation of the United States scientific workforce; [3] promoting sound scientific and technical investment decisions through independent peer reviews; facilitating and preparing for the medical management of radiation incidents around the world; evaluating health outcomes in individuals exposed to chemical and radiological hazards; and ensuring public confidence in environmental cleanup through independent environmental verification activities. [1]
The Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS) operates as a part of ORISE. [4] REAC/TS provides emergency response and subject matter expertise on the medical management of radiation incidents for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation. A cytogenetics biodosimetry laboratory was established within ORISE to provide capabilities for measuring radiation dose and to conduct research to improve techniques for determining the doses received by victims of radiological accidents. [5]
REAC/TS is designated as a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre, which are key institutions that provide expertise and function as an extension of the international public health agency’s mission to improve health outcomes for all people. [6] ORISE is managed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Its operations are overseen by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site Office. [7]
Elements of the DOE asset now known as Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education were originally conceived by University of Tennessee physics professor Dr. William G. Pollard to cultivate a peacetime purpose for the nuclear science generated by the Manhattan Project. This vision became a reality on October 17, 1946, when the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies received a charter of incorporation from the state of Tennessee. Although the name later changed to Oak Ridge Associated Universities, the organization's mission generally remained the same as the programs it managed evolved over time. [8]
In 1992, DOE consolidated many of these legacy programs into what became known as ORISE. DOE selected ORAU to manage the initial ORISE contract and has continuously managed ORISE for more than 30 years. [8] DOE established ORISE with an operating budget of $75 million, encompassing programs long-managed for DOE by ORAU in science education, training, and environmental/occupational health. [8]
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is now sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and administered by UT–Battelle, LLC.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is a federally funded research and development center in the hills of Berkeley, California, United States. Established in 1931 by the University of California (UC), the laboratory is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and administered by the UC system. Ernest Lawrence, who won the Nobel prize for inventing the cyclotron, founded the Lab and served as its Director until his death in 1958. Located in the Berkeley Hills, the lab overlooks the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about 25 miles (40 km) west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak Ridge's nicknames include the Atomic City, the Secret City, and the City Behind a Fence.
The United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and Technology Centers is a system of laboratories overseen by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) for scientific and technological research. The primary mission of the DOE national laboratories is to conduct research and development (R&D) addressing national priorities: energy and climate, the environment, national security, and health. Sixteen of the seventeen DOE national laboratories are federally funded research and development centers administered, managed, operated and staffed by private-sector organizations under management and operating (M&O) contracts with the DOE. The National Laboratory system was established in the wake of World War II, during which the United States had quickly set-up and pursued advanced scientific research in the sprawling Manhattan Project.
The Y-12 National Security Complex is a United States Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration facility located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It was built as part of the Manhattan Project for the purpose of enriching uranium for the first atomic bombs. In the years after World War II, it has been operated as a manufacturing facility for nuclear weapons components.
Geiger counter is a colloquial name for any hand-held radiation measuring device in civil defense, but most civil defense devices were ion-chamber radiological survey meters capable of measuring only high levels of radiation that would be present after a major nuclear event.
The Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST), formerly known as the Nuclear Emergency Search Team is a team of scientists, technicians, and engineers operating under the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA). NEST is the umbrella designation that encompasses all DOE/NNSA radiological and nuclear emergency response functions; some of which date back more than 60 years. NEST's responsibilities include both national security missions, particularly; countering weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and public health and safety, including responses to nuclear reactor accidents. NEST's task is to be "prepared to respond immediately to any type of radiological accident or incident anywhere in the world".
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a consortium of American universities headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with offices in Arvada, Colorado and Cincinnati, Ohio and staff at other locations across the country.
Alvin Martin Weinberg was an American nuclear physicist who was the administrator of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) during and after the Manhattan Project. He came to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 1945 and remained there until his death in 2006. He was the first to use the term "Faustian bargain" to describe nuclear energy.
The Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) is an American triservice research laboratory in Bethesda, Maryland chartered by Congress in 1960 and formally established in 1961. It conducts research in the field of radiobiology and related matters which are essential to the operational and medical support of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. military services. AFRRI provides services and performs cooperative research with other federal and civilian agencies and institutions.
The Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (OICI), also abbreviated IN, DOE-IN, DOE/IN, I&CI, or OIC, was established in 2006 by the merger of pre-existing Energy Department intelligence and security organizations. It is an office of the United States Department of Energy (DOE) responsible for all intelligence and counterintelligence activities throughout the DOE complex; due to this central role, OICI is designated DOE's Headquarters Intelligence. As a component of the United States Intelligence Community in addition to the Department of Energy, OICI reports to both the Director of National Intelligence and Secretary of Energy.
The Office of Science is a component of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the Nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. The Office of Science portfolio has two principal thrusts: direct support of scientific research and direct support of the development, construction, and operation of unique, open-access scientific user facilities that are made available for use by external researchers.
Karl Ziegler Morgan, was an American physicist who was one of the founders of the field of radiation health physics. He was director of health physics at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from the time in the Manhattan Project late 1940s until his retirement in 1972.
The U.S. Army Public Health Center (APHC) is a United States Army element headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, United States. As a forward operating agency of the United States Army Medical Command, APHC is responsible for providing technical support and expertise in the areas of preventive medicine, public health, health promotion, and wellness to military units around the globe.
Radiation dose reconstruction refers to the process of estimating radiation doses that were received by individuals or populations in the past as a result of particular exposure situations of concern. The basic principle of radiation dose reconstruction is to characterize the radiation environment to which individuals have been exposed using available information. In cases where radiation exposures can not be fully characterized based on available data, default values based on reasonable scientific assumptions can be used as substitutes. The extent to which the default values are used depends on the purpose of the reconstruction(s) being undertaken.
Alvin William Trivelpiece was an American physicist whose varied career included positions as director of the Office of Energy Research of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). He was also a professor of physics and a corporate executive. Trivelpiece's research focused on plasma physics, controlled thermonuclear research, and particle accelerators. He received several patents for accelerators and microwave devices. He died in Rancho Santa Margarita, California in August 2022 at the age of 91.
The ORNL DAAC for Biogeochemical Dynamics is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) data center managed by the Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project. Established in 1993, the ORNL DAAC is operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under an interagency agreement between NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE). Within the ORNL, the ORNL DAAC is part of the Remote Sensing and Environmental Informatics Group of the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) and a contributor to the Climate Change Science Institute (CCSI).
Liane Brauch "Lee" Russell was an Austrian-born American geneticist and conservationist. Her studies in mammalian genetics provided the basis for understanding the chromosomic basis for sex determination in mammals and the effects occasioned by radiation, drugs, fuels and waste on mice. Her research allowed better understanding of genetic processes in mammals, mutagenesis and teratogenesis effects on mammals, and knowledge of how these processes can be prevented and avoided. She determined that developing embryos were most vulnerable to the effects of radiation during the first seven weeks of pregnancy and therefore recommended that non-urgent diagnostic X-rays be taken in the 14 days after the onset of a woman's menstrual period, a standard that became internationally accepted in radiological practice. She was also the first to discover that the Y chromosome determines maleness in mammals.
Nuclear labor issues exist within the international nuclear power industry and the nuclear weapons production sector worldwide, impacting upon the lives and health of laborers, itinerant workers and their families.
Clarence Chancelum Lushbaugh Jr. was an American physician and pathologist. He was considered an expert in radiological accidents and injuries, as well as a pioneer in radiation safety research, and he is known for his controversial research involving human subjects.