Oak Ridge Associated Universities 2006 Annual Report

Published by the Communications, Printing and
Design Department of ORAU
Director of Communications, Printing and Design
Ms. Pam Bonee
Annual Report Editor
Ms. Wendy West
Annual Report Associate Editor
Dr. Catherine Crawley
Contributing Writers
Ms. Jennifer Brock
Mr. Bryan Campbell
Dr. Catherine Crawley
Ms. Amy Viars
Ms. Wendy West
Ms. Joanna Wilkins
Ms. Rebekah Winkler
Designers
Mr. Mark Longmire
Mr. Mark Sieger
Contributing Designer
Ms. Jennifer Massengill
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a
university consortium leveraging the scientific strength
of 96 major research institutions to advance scientific
research and education by partnering with national
laboratories, government agencies, and private industry.
ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science
and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
(ORISE) is a U.S. Department of Energy institute
focusing on scientific initiatives to research health
risks from occupational hazards, assess environmental
cleanup, respond to radiation medical emergencies,
support national security and emergency preparedness,
and educate the next generation of scientists. ORISE
is managed by ORAU.
The 2006 ORAU Annual Report was paid for with
corporate funds.
The financial information provided in this report has
been derived from the audited financial statements of
the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Corporation
and the U.S. Department of Energy contract fund for
the year ended September 30, 2006. These audited
financial statements are presented in separately
bound reports.
ORAU 06-0938

Table of Contents
Select List of Acronyms
ORAU at a Glance.................................................. 2
ORISE at a Glance.................................................. 4
Statement from the President................................. 6
University Partnership Initiatives .......................... 9
Science Education Programs.................................. 21
Worker Health Programs........................................ 31
Public Health Programs.......................................... 37
National Security and Emergency
Management Program............................................. 45
Radiation Emergency Medicine Programs............ 53
Independent Environmental Assessment and
Verification Programs............................................. 59
Scientific and Technical Peer Review
Programs.................................................................. 65
Community Partnerships........................................ 70
ORAU Management .............................................. 71
ARC
ATDD
CDC
DHHS
DHS
DOC
DOD
DOE
DOJ
DOT
EPA
HBCU
IEAV
MEI
NASA
Appalachian Regional Commission
Atmospheric Turbulence and
Diffusion Division
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
U.S. Department of Homeland
Security
U.S. Department of Commerce
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Transportation
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency
Historically Black College or
University
Independent Environmental
Assessment and Verification
Minority Educational Institution
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
NNSA
NOAA
NRC
NSEMP
OEWH
ORCAS
ORNL
PTT
REAC/TS
REM
SEP
STRI
UNIRIB
USDA
UT
National Nuclear Security
Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
National Security and Emergency
Management Program
Occupational Exposure and Worker
Health
Oak Ridge Center for Advanced
Studies
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Professional and Technical Training
Radiation Emergency Assistance
Center/Training Site
Radiation Emergency Medicine
Science Education Programs
Scientific and Technical Resource
Integration
University Radioactive Ion Beam
Consortium
U.S. Department of Agriculture
University of Tennessee
Key Office Contact Information............................71
NIOSH
National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health
WHO
World Health Organization
ORAU Board of Directors..................................... 72
ORAU Sponsoring Institutions... Inside Back Cover

ORAU at a Glance
As a consortium of major Ph.D.-granting academic
institutions, Oak Ridge Associated Universities
(ORAU) cultivates collaborative partnerships
that enhance the scientific research and education
enterprises of our nation. As a key strategic partner
with UT-Battelle, ORAU helps to advance Oak
Ridge National Laboratory’s and the nation’s
scientific research endeavors by bringing university
faculty and students together to collaborate at one
of the world’s leading-edge research laboratories.
A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, ORAU’s largest
contract is with the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for
Science and Education.
Key Business Areas:
• Science Education Programs (SEP)
• Occupational Exposure and Worker Health
(OEWH) Programs
• Professional and Technical Training (PTT)
Programs/Public Health Communication
• National Security and Emergency Management
Program (NSEMP)
• Radiation Emergency Medicine (REM) Programs
• Independent Environmental Assessment and
Verification (IEAV) Programs
• Scientific and Technical Resource Integration
(STRI)/Peer Review Programs
Key Corporate
Customers:
• U.S. Department of
Energy
• U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services
• National Institute for
Occupational Safety
and Health
• National
Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Financial Summary:
Other
Federal
Agency
Contracts
NSEMP
OEWH
Other
Sources
DOE Contract
PTT
REM
Capital
and Other
IEAV
STRI
SEP
Key Partners:
• Comprehensive
Health Services
• Dade Moeller &
Associates, Inc.
• MJW Corp., Inc.
• National Jewish
Medical & Research
Center
• Oak Ridge National
Laboratory
• Occupational Health
Link
• Pro2Serve
• UT-Battelle
Revenue by Source (in millions)*:
DOE Contract.............................. $152.3
Other Fed Agency Contracts....... $75.6
Other Sources............................. $8.9
Total Revenue............................ $236.8
Expenses (in millions)*:
SEP..............................................$118.1
OEWH......................................... $59.5
NSEMP....................................... $19.6
STRI............................................ $10.1
PTT ............................................. $8.5
IEAV............................................ $7.0
REM............................................ $2.9
Capital and Other........................ $9.5
Total Expenses.......................... $235.2
*See financial information
notice on inside front cover.

Key Facts:
• Established in 1946—originally as the Oak Ridge
Institute for Nuclear Studies
• Comprised of 96 member institutions, which
perform one-third of the nation’s university
research and produce one-third of the nation’s
science and engineering doctoral degrees
• Served as a contractor to DOE and other federal
agencies for 60 years—with a flagship
contractual arrangement to manage ORISE
• Comprised of more than 850 employees
• Designated a “Best Company to Work for in East
Tennessee,” 2006 Award, Greater Knoxville
Business Journal
Key Accomplishments:
• Supported 5,000 participants from more than 900
colleges and universities in science education and
research programs sponsored by 14 federal agencies
• Provided for free medical screenings of more
than 1,800 former DOE workers in the first
full year of the DOE National Supplemental
Screening Program to identify those former
site employees who may have been exposed to
hazardous substances at work
• Completed 17,000 dose reconstruction reports
on former energy workers who may have
developed cancers due to work-related radiation
exposures and who may then be eligible for
benefits under the Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act
• Received the DOE “Facility Management
Contractor Small Business Diversity Achievement
Award” and the U.S. Small Business
Administration’s “2006 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Award for Excellence in Small Business
Subcontracting”
• Recognized on behalf of ORISE for excellence
in safety with the DOE “Voluntary Protection
Program (VPP) Star of Excellence Award” for
“full dedication and total commitment to the
principles of VPP” over the past three years as a
VPP Star Site
A Community Leader:
• Provided more than $250,000 in education grants
and other funding for science and math activities
for area schools and community initiatives
• Distributed more than 50,000 free books to area
children since 2001 as a sponsor of Dolly Parton’s
Imagination Library©
ORAU and ORISE
Expenditures for
FY01-06*
FY01 $100.9 million
FY02 $103.3 million
FY03 $140.7 million
FY04 $184.5 million
FY05 $211.9 million
FY06 $235.2 million
$235.2
$211.9
$184.5
$140.7
$100.9 $103.3
FY01 FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06
Web Site:
www.orau.org

ORISE at a Glance
The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and
Education (ORISE) is a U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) Institute. ORISE’s mission is
to address national needs in the assessment and
analysis of the environmental and health effects
of radiation, beryllium, and other hazardous
materials; development and operation of medical and
national security radiation emergency management
and response capabilities; and management of
education programs to help ensure a robust supply
of scientists, engineers, and technicians to meet
future science and technology needs. ORISE creates
opportunities for collaboration through partnerships
with other DOE facilities, other federal agencies,
academia, and industry in a manner consistent with
DOE objectives and the ORISE mission.
ORISE Programs:
• Science Education Programs (SEP)
• Occupational Exposure and Worker Health
(OEWH) Programs
• Professional and Technical Training (PTT)
Programs/Public Health Communication
• National Security and Emergency Management
Program (NSEMP)
• Radiation Emergency Medicine (REM) Programs
• Independent Environmental Assessment and
Verification (IEAV) Programs
• Scientific and Technical Resource Integration
(STRI)/Peer Review Programs
Key ORISE Customers:
• U.S. Department of
Energy
• U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services
• U.S. Department of
Defense
• U.S. Department of
Homeland Security
Financial Summary:
Revenue by Source (in millions)*:
DOE Contract............................................................................$152.3
Total Revenue..........................................................................$152.3
Expenses (in millions)*:
SEP........................................................................................... $98.7
NSEMP..................................................................................... $18.5
STRI.......................................................................................... $9.2
PTT........................................................................................... $8.5
IEAV.......................................................................................... $6.3
OEWH....................................................................................... $3.8
REM.......................................................................................... $2.9
Capital and Other...................................................................... $4.4
Total Expenses........................................................................$152.3
SEP
Capital and Other
REM
OEWH
IEAV
PTT
STRI
NSEMP
*See financial information
notice on inside front cover.
• U.S. Department of
Commerce
• U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
• U.S. Department of
Justice
• U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory
Commission
Photo Credit: Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Key Accomplishments:
• Placed 5,000 participants from more than 900
colleges and universities in more than 150 science
education and research programs with more than
200 national laboratories and federal agencies
• Provided continuing hands-on medical education
at 20 different locations worldwide to more than
1,000 pre-hospital emergency response personnel,
hospital health care personnel, emergency planners,
and public health personnel on handling the
medical aspects of radiation emergencies.
• Supported the planning and execution of 28
homeland security and emergency preparedness
exercises and readiness events preparing federal,
state and local agencies in dealing with incidents
involving weapons of mass destruction and
resulting in mass casualties
• Conducted eight pandemic flu exercises at U.S.
international airports and land-locked ports
of entry to prevent introduction of flu. More than
600 representatives from U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, quarantine stations, hospitals, airlines,
and airport authorities participated.
• Analyzed more than 700 samples from 13 aging
U.S. nuclear power plants for the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to determine whether
unacceptable levels of tritium had been
inadvertently released into nearby ground water,
potentially contaminating drinking water supplies
• Won $3 million contract to conduct scientific and
technical reviews of work related to the proposed
nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain
• Completed more than 42 scientific peer reviews of
2,203 research proposals, asset types, health risk
assessments, or projects involving nearly 1,220
select reviewers from 350 universities in 49
states
• Assisted DOE during first phase of the DOE
Scholars Program, designed to funnel top
students into the employment pipeline by providing
internships in DOE’s national laboratories and
other facilities nationwide
Web Site:
http://orise.orau.gov
ORISE
Expenditures for
FY01-06*
FY01 $93.6 million
FY02 $94.2 million
FY03 $110.9 million
FY04 $124 million
FY05 $152.1 million
FY06 $152.3 million
$152.1 $152.3
$124
$93.6 $94.2
$110.9
FY01 FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06

Statement from the President
In 2006, ORAU continued to provide leadership and
assistance to government, industry, and academe in
developing solutions to national issues that affect our
country today and into the future. By applying our
capabilities to these national issues and leveraging
our strengths as an organization, we are providing
the science to lead, the education to build, and the
partnerships to grow the next generation.
ORAU is making national contributions in response
to national challenges and needs. As a university
consortium, we work on behalf of our member
institutions to promote collaborative partnerships
that will enhance the U.S. scientific research and
education enterprise and position us to be a more
globally competitive nation. We focus on investing in
the professional development of junior faculty and
graduate students, expanding avenues for partnerships
with federal agencies and laboratories, and pursuing
broader strategic partnerships to address national
policy issues. As a strategic partner with UT-
Battelle, we enhance Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s
(ORNL) science and technology programs and help
ORNL achieve its science agenda. And, as a 501(c)3
Photo: ORAU President Ronald D. Townsend.
nonprofit corporation and federal contractor, ORAU’s
primary contract is with the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for
Science and Education (ORISE).
In supporting DOE and other federal agencies, as well
as the academic community and industry, we provide
quality programs that deliver value to our stakeholders
through addressing specific needs in:
• Filling the pipeline of promising talent for future
science, engineering, and technology needs of DOE
and the nation.
• Strengthening the nation’s level of preparedness in
the face of terrorism threats and global emergencies.
• Protecting the health of our nation’s workforce, the
public, and the environment through research,
outreach, and independent cleanup verification.
While our capabilities are broad, our longtime mission
remains to build strong educational partnerships
among our 96 member universities and government
and industry, providing mutually beneficial,
collaborative opportunities. Building on the successes
and growth of our 60-year history of managing
science education programs, ORAU has become a

national leader, offering fellowships, scholarships,
internships, research awards, and travel grants for
faculty, postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate
participants, as well as for K-12 teachers. In 2006
specifically, DOE requested that ORISE manage the
new DOE Scholars Program—a program designed
to funnel promising young scholars into the agency’s
employment pipeline, which is being depleted as senior
scientists and engineers retire.
In addition to our leadership role in science education,
ORAU is answering the need for responsive worker
health solutions, particularly for current and former
workers in the nuclear industry. For DOE, ORAU
has partnered with other health organizations to
create a nationwide network of resources and healthmonitoring
capabilities for the DOE National
Supplemental Screening Program. This year, more
than 2,500 people were registered for free medical
screenings, and ORAU designed a paperless
information flow for the screening process that has
resulted in greater efficiency in servicing these workers’
health needs. In addition, ORAU is bringing to a
close a major radiation dose reconstruction project
for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, which estimates the occupational radiation
doses received by thousands of workers in the nuclear
weapons complex.
ORAU has also demonstrated an unwavering
commitment to help prepare and protect the nation
in the event of a worldwide crisis or national
emergency involving radiation incidents, or threats of
terrorism, and we are working closely with the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services to lessen
the impact of epidemic disease, such as a pandemic
flu, on our nation. Further, to mitigate the effects of
radiation on the health of the environment, ORAU is
partnering with DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission to ensure that contaminated nuclear
facilities are cleaned up to established regulatory
standards, an effort aimed at increasing public
confidence in the safety of these facilities or lands
for reuse.
This year has been one of tremendous growth and
success in meeting our customers’ needs. By leveraging
our strengths in creating smart partnerships among
government, academe, and industry and through our
ability to provide innovative solutions to these national
issues, ORAU is helping our customers build a future
that positively impacts the nation in areas of vital and
immediate importance.

Science to lead, education to build, partnerships to grow...
the next generation

Strengthening
the Global
Competitiveness of
Universities

University Partnership Initiatives
“The nation’s future resides in the minds of our
youth. Today, we strive to recruit and retain our
children into futures that will ensure their welfare and
ensure America’s global competitiveness. ORAU is
engaged in cultivating the scientific, from the innate
curiosity of kindergarteners to the societal impacts of
postdoctoral and faculty advances in technology.”
John Nemeth, ORAU vice president for Partnership
Development
Like never before,
universities today face
serious challenges
in securing research
funding and attracting
students into scientific and
technical fields necessary
to compete in a global
arena. ORAU addresses
these challenges by
providing research grants,
promoting opportunities
for collaboration among
government, academe, and
industry, and creating smart
partnerships for innovation
and advances in scientific
research and education.
2006 Initiatives:
• Enhanced efforts in K-16 science, technology,
engineering, and math education, addressing the
national workforce replenishment challenges
• Contributed to national security through the direct
engagement of university experts with DHS
• Enhanced the user base for ORNL’s science and
technology user facilities through research
participation programs for faculty and students
• Fostered partnerships among our member
institutions that encourage collaborations, enhance
funding, and inspire innovation and commercialization
of intellectual developments
Focus Areas:
• Expand research and education opportunities for
our members, strengthening university leadership
in science, technology, engineering, and math
• Partner with ORNL to build mutually beneficial
university partnerships and advance ORNL’s
science agenda
• Support, along with ORNL, ORCAS’ efforts to
explore major scientific and socioeconomic
issues and to influence policy. Other founding
members include Battelle, Duke, Florida State,
Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, University of
Tennessee, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, and
Virginia Tech
• Provide research grants to faculty at member
institutions and support student field experience,
technical contests, and conference attendance
Key Partners:
“With contributions from university experts, state
and federal agencies, and industry, ORCAS is
bringing together disparate entities with a similar
vision to affect policy on education and American
competitiveness and on promoting energy, economic
development, and environmental health.”
Paul Gilman, director of the Oak Ridge Center for
Advanced Studies (ORCAS)
• ORAU Sponsoring Institutions (see inside back cover)
• U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
• UT-Battelle/Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Contact Information:
Partnership Development and Membership Office
(865) 576-1898
John.Nemeth@orau.org
www.orau.org
Oak Ridge Center for Advanced Studies
(865) 241-4659
Paul.Gilman@orau.org
http://orcas.orau.org
10

ORAU Leverages Strategic Partnerships to Address Critical Needs
of America’s Scientific Research and Education Enterprise
ORAU was originally conceived as a university
consortium in 1946 with the objective of building
upon the new science and technology that had
grown “behind the fences” during the Manhattan
Project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
By partnering together, the original 14 southern
universities comprising the consortium would have
better success in gaining access to this world-class
scientific facility that had emerged in their backyard.
For 60 years, that same spirit of partnership has
sustained ORAU, which now encompasses 96
universities across the United States, the United
Kingdom, and Puerto Rico.
ORNL’s, as well as the country’s, increasing reliance
on the contributions of university-based researchers
helped fuel the growth of ORAU both in the size of
its membership and in the scope of its efforts. ORAU
remains focused on advancing scientific research
and education through partnerships. Promoting
collaborative opportunities among federal research
centers, especially ORNL where our journey began,
stands at the core of who we are.
Aware of both the critical needs of America’s scientific
and research enterprise and our own unique capabilities,
we have strategically focused our consortium thrust on
the following primary goals:
• Enhancing investment in the professional growth of
junior faculty and graduate students
• Strengthening our partnership with The University
of Tennessee (UT)-Battelle/ORNL to broaden
collaborative research opportunities
• Expanding avenues for partnerships beyond the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) and ORNL
• Exploring and pursuing strategic partnerships to
address national policy issues
For 60 years, ORAU has worked to build strategic
partnerships among the academic community and
national laboratories, specifically ORNL, to provide
fertile ground for cultivating the next generation of
scientists and engineers to support our nation’s science
and research enterprise.
The following pages in this section detail the specific
activities and events from fiscal year 2006 that have
occurred as a result of ORAU’s strategic partnerships
and in direct support of these primary goals.
11

PROFILE
Dr. Yongli Gao
Enhancing Investment in the Professional Growth
of Junior Faculty and Graduate Students
Assistant
Professor of
Geology at East
Tennessee State
University (ETSU)
and Powe Award
Winner
Background:
Ph.D. Geology and M.S.
Computer Science, University
of Minnesota
M.S. Geochemistry and B.S.
Geology, Beijing University, China
Award-Winning Research Project:
Study of speleothems, or cave
deposits, in the Southern
Appalachians to gather information
about past climate, vegetation,
hydrology, and landscape changes
On Winning the Powe Award:
“Winning the Powe Award proves
the significance of this
interdisciplinary research. This is
an excellent start for me to
achieve my long-term goals in
this relatively new research area.”
For America to remain a world leader in science and
technology, the nation’s leading research universities
play a critical role both in conducting research and
in teaching the next generation of science and
engineering students. Thus, ORAU is committed to
encouraging and supporting the best and brightest
young faculty members in our consortium. One key
way we do this is through the Ralph E. Powe Junior
Faculty Awards Program.
In 2006, ORAU presented 25 junior faculty members
at 20 of our member institutions with a $5,000 Powe
Award, each of which was matched by the winner’s
university for a total grant of $10,000. The grants
are intended to enhance junior faculty research
and professional growth and result in new funding
opportunities during the early stages of their careers.
2006-2007 Powe Award Recipients
Yongli Gao...................... East Tennessee State University
Jill Nelson ...................... George Mason University
Eduardo Farfan............... Idaho State University
Chen-Yu Liu.................... Indiana University
Laura Hurley................... Indiana University
Fernando Galvez ............ Louisiana State University
Guoping Zhang............... Louisiana State University
Keisha Walters................ Mississippi State University
Salil Desai...................... North Carolina A&T State University
Scott Grayson................. Tulane University
Sulin Zhang ................... University of Arkansas
Tamer Kahveci................ University of Florida
Chad Fertig..................... University of Georgia
Powe Award Quick Facts
• 300+ grants, valued at more than $1.5 million, awarded
since program began in 1990
• Named for Ralph E. Powe, who served as the ORAU
councilor from Mississippi State University for 16 years
and who was elected chair of ORAU’s Council of
Sponsoring Institutions prior to his death in 1996
• Eligibility for grants: faculty members at ORAU member
institutions who are within two years of their initial tenure
track
• Disciplines considered:
- engineering or applied science
- life sciences
- mathematics and computer science
- physical sciences
- policy, management, or education
Awdhesh Kalia ............... University of Louisville
Miao Yu ......................... University of Maryland
Min Ouyang.................... University of Maryland
Yu Wang ........................ University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Pinliang Dong................. University of North Texas
Brian Gorman ................ University of North Texas
W. Vincent Liu ................ University of Pittsburgh
Jie Wu............................ University of Tennessee
Guadalupe Carmona ...... University of Texas at Austin
Stephen Fong................. Virginia Commonwealth University
Y.H. Percival Zhang ........ Virginia Tech
Montasir Abbas............... Virginia Tech
12

HIGHLIGHTS
At the 2006 ORNL Student Poster Session, Ombreyan
Broadwater (left) and Virgil Greene (right) joined more
than 100 students from 13 of ORNL’s scientific and
technical research participation programs to present
a culmination of their summer research projects. The
day-long session, hosted by ORNL and coordinated by
ORISE, offered students the opportunity to showcase
their projects, on topics ranging from cyber security to
X-ray technology, to fellow students, ORNL scientists,
and university representatives. After the poster session,
students were invited to ORAU’s 7th Annual Graduate
School Fair to learn about graduate study programs at
19 universities from across the U.S.
In an effort to support the research interests of our
member institutions, ORAU provides various travel
grants or other assistance. This spring, ORAU made
a contribution to East Carolina University (ECU)
environmental health majors (pictured here at Chernobyl,
20 years after the world’s worst nuclear disaster).
The group traveled to the International Atomic Energy
Agency in Vienna and to the Chernobyl site north of Kiev,
Ukraine, to study the public health advantages and some
of the concerns of nuclear power. “I want to thank ORAU
for support with this endeavor. The trip certainly resulted
in a renewed but sobering sense of optimism for the
future of nuclear power in this country,” said Dr. Daniel
Sprau, associate professor and Environmental Health
Sciences Program director at ECU (pictured back row,
center). Photo by Cliff Hollis.
During the summer of 2006, students from across the
U.S. were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet
with the world’s most distinguished chemistry scholars
at the 56th Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students
in Lindau, Germany. ORAU sponsored nine of the 60
American students selected to attend the meeting, and
ORISE administered travel and publicity for the event,
in which participants interacted with more than 350
other young researchers and Nobel Prize winners from
around the world. Pictured here, Laureate John Hall
speaks with Vanderbilt University student Chris Goodin
(left) and University of Utah student Tim Anglin. ORISE
also helped coordinate the 2nd Lindau Meeting in
Economic Sciences for 50 students selected to travel
to Lindau to interact with Nobel laureates specializing in
economics.
13

Strengthening Our Partnership with UT-Battelle and ORNL to
Broaden Collaborative Research Opportunities
Originally founded 60 years ago to help university
researchers from the Southeast gain access to ORNL,
ORAU continues to expand collaborative research
opportunities for our member institutions with
the lab, which today is managed by UT-Battelle.
While universities can foster relationships directly
with ORNL, ORAU has nurtured a longtime
partnership with the lab and is instrumental in
building collaborations between academe and ORNL
on major scientific initiatives. One way ORAU does
this is through the leadership of the ORAU/ORNL
Core Universities, which include Georgia Tech, Duke,
North Carolina State, Florida State, Virginia Tech,
University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt. ORAU, along
with this group of universities, provides leadership
for and represents the academic community’s
interests in key areas of ORNL’s science agenda
to include neutron science, materials science and
nanotechnology, high performance tera- and petascale
computing, energy, and the life sciences.
Along with these larger institutions, ORAU works
with historically black colleges and universities
(HBCUs) and minority education institutions
(MEIs) to facilitate minority institution interaction
with ORNL. ORAU and ORNL jointly fund an
HBCU/MEI Faculty Summer Research Participation
Program, which provides minority faculty members
with opportunities to do hands-on research while
they are not teaching in the classroom. To date, more
than 60 faculty have participated in this program,
which has led to ongoing research at the lab and joint
faculty appointments. In addition, ORNL’s annual
Day of Science, which is also supported by ORAU,
provides HBCU/MEI students the opportunity to
learn about research opportunities with the lab during
the summer and off months in their own academic
schedules.
By fostering relationships among faculty, students,
postdoctoral researchers, and ORNL scientists, ORAU
is strengthening our partnership with ORNL and is
helping ORNL achieve its scientific objectives and the
academic community realize its research goals.
Another important collaborative partnership involving
ORNL and universities is ORAU’s University
Radioactive Ion Beam consortium (UNIRIB), where
postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty from
all over the world perform groundbreaking physics
experiments and achieve significant scientific advances
in the investigation of unstable nuclei using ORNL’s
Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF).
ORNL has positioned itself as one of the leading
scientific research laboratories in the world, and
ORAU has committed to helping ORNL maintain
its arc of growth and influence in the nation’s science
enterprise through strong partnerships with the
academic community.
14

Scientists Explore Extreme Regions
of Nuclear Stability
To explore the origins of our universe, scientists
study the very short-lived, exotic nuclei that
are involved in astrophysical processes, such as
supernovae, or the explosions of stars.
Working in the extreme regions of nuclear
stability (see Chart of Nuclei, right), during the
past year ORAU’s UNIRIB consortium and the
UNIRIB/Rutgers University Center of Excellence
for Radioactive Ion Beam Studies for Stewardship
Science have attempted to measure exotic nuclei by
completing experiments on neutron-deficient tin-
100 and initiating experiments on the very neutronrich
tin-132. Exploring nuclei in these two unstable
regions is sometimes referred to as searching for
the holy grail of nuclear physics.
Tin-100 and -132 are considered to be “doubly
magic,” or extremely stable. A nucleus has two
numbers: a number of protons and a number of
neutrons. Certain numbers (2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82,
126) of protons or neutrons bring extra stability
to nuclei because they produce closed, or complete,
shells; they are known as “magic” numbers. The
tin-100 isotope is doubly magic as it has 50
protons and 50 neutrons; tin-132 is also doubly
magic with 50 protons and 82 neutrons. Very few
nuclei are doubly magic, and even fewer can be
measured.
“It’s an example of real science being performed at
ORAU, and it’s exciting science. ORAU’s UNIRIB
is doing what it set out to do, which is partnering
with universities to explore the forefront of nuclear
physics,” said UNIRIB Director Ken Carter.
The first experiment, on the neutron-deficient side,
was conducted by using a process known as double
alpha decay, where exotic nuclei of xenon-109
decays to tellurium-105 and ultimately to tin-101.
The results were published in the scientific journal
Physical Review Letters in August 2006, and the
experience gained will be applied to future attempts
to search for the alpha-decay chain of xenon-108
to telerium-104 to tin-100.
The second experiment, conducted in September
2006, used a transfer reaction by taking a beam of
very neutron-rich tin-132, produced at ORNL’s
HRIBF, and transferring one neutron to it.
Image Information:
Kate Jones, principal investigator on the tin-132 research
at UNIRIB, and Sean Liddick, post-doctoral researcher
on the tin-100 research, hold a silicon detector, similar to
ones used in their experiments.
Researchers measured resulting protons from the
reaction on a beam of tin-132 in order to study
the effect of the doubly magic properties on the
neighboring nucleus of tin-133.
These experiments were made possible due to
an investment in technologies and techniques
(developed by UNIRIB and its partners over the
past three years), such as the Oak Ridge Rutgers
University Barrel Array (ORRUBA) detectors
and the new advanced signal analysis techniques
with UNIRIB’s digital electronics. The HRIBF
at ORNL is also currently the only place in the
world that can produce radioactive ion beams at the
energies required to perform transfer reactions that
are very powerful tools for studying nuclei.
Chart of Nuclei
Proton-rich Nuclei
100
Sn
Line of Stability
132
Sn
Neutron-rich Nuclei
Scientists at UNIRIB have been exploring nuclei in two extreme
regions of nuclear stability, shown here in this slice of the
nuclidic chart, tin-100 and tin-132 (the chemical symbol for tin is
Sn). Exploring nuclei in these two unstable regions is sometimes
referred to as searching for the holy grail of nuclear physics.
15

PROFILE
HIGHLIGHT
Background:
Originally from Canvey Island, Essex, England
B.S. Physics with Acoustics, University of Surrey,
United Kingdom
Ph.D. Experimental Nuclear Physics, University
of Surrey, United Kingdom
Dr. Kate Jones
Assistant Professor of Experimental
Nuclear Astrophysics, University of Tennessee
Role at ORAU’s UNIRIB:
Principal Investigator, experiment on
tin-132
Research Focus:
Experimental nuclear astrophysics
transfer reactions with exotic beams,
specifically neutron-rich tin-132
What Specialized Equipment Did You Use to
Conduct the Research?
“We used the HRIBF at ORNL to produce the
beam of tin-132 and an early implementation of
a large array of position-sensitive silicon
detectors called ORRUBA (14 detectors of 36,
which will make up the final array).”
What Are the Benefits of Conducting Research
Under the Auspices of An Organization That Is
Partnered?
“One major goal is to bring young (early career)
scientists to national laboratories to perform
experiments. It also gives them an opportunity to
meet and present their work to resident scientists
at laboratories such as ORNL. In this way,
students are encouraged to join fields such
as nuclear physics and to see the opportunities
of working long term in those fields.”
Image Information:
Jones stands above the SIDAR (silicon detector
array) chamber used in her research exploring the
tin-132 region.
At the fifth annual ORNL Day of Science, Morgan State
University undergraduate Omari Kariuki (right) watches
as ORNL Materials Science and Technology Division
scientist Patrick Martin demonstrates how liquid nitrogen
acts as a coolant in superconducting cable design.
Cosponsored by ORISE and held in conjunction for the
first time ever with the Minority Education Technical
Assistance Workshop, the Day of Science offered more
than 250 students, faculty members, and administrators
the opportunity to interact one-on-one with ORNL and
DOE representatives. Students learned about internship
and research opportunities and attended a series of
lectures and exhibitions highlighting some of ORNL’s
most exciting scientific research. University faculty and
administrators who attended the simultaneous DOEsponsored
workshop also learned how to compete for
funding and collaborative opportunities with DOE and its
contractors.
Jones’s research was partly funded by the Center of Excellence for Radioactive Ion Beam Studies for Stewardship Science, established
through a partnership with Rutgers University and ORAU’s UNIRIB.
16

HIGHLIGHT
PROFILE
Scientist Finds Ways to Harness
Fog Efficiently
To many, fog conjures moods of mystery and obscures
the path ahead, but, for Dr. Dave Sree, fog is not so
elusive and can be captured, measured, and used for
environmental purposes.
As a part of the ORNL/ORAU HBCU/MEI Faculty
Summer Research Participation Program at ORNL,
Sree helped to develop fog collection systems that are
as energy efficient as possible.
Originally from India, Sree now makes his home
in Alabama, where he teaches in the mechanical
engineering department at Tuskegee University (TU).
The university is a member school of the ORAU
HBCU/MEI Council. Sree has taught there since
1990 and was awarded “Professor of the Year” by TU
engineering students in 1997 and 2004.
Working with research partner Dr. Peter J. Todd in
ORNL’s Chemical Sciences Division, Sree’s research
involved evaluating a fog collection system from a fluid
dynamics point of view and helping develop it into an
energy-efficient and cost-effective system.
“Fog and smog collection systems have an important
bearing on environmental management,” Sree said,
adding that fog can also be used as a source of fresh
water. Fog collection research is also used in other
scientific research areas, such as atmospheric science
and in studies of industrial pollution.
One of the highlights of his experience was with a
group of about 20 TU students who visited the lab
in July, he said. The mostly science majors toured the
lab and heard presentations from former TU students,
as well as Sree. The visit was designed to pique the
students’ interest in internship opportunities available
at ORNL during the summer.
Image Information:
At ORNL, Sree studies ways to build machines that collect
fog while saving energy. Sree’s assignment was sponsored
by the ORNL/ORAU HBCU/MEI Faculty Summer Research
Participation Program. Sree teaches at Tuskegee University.
In 2006, ORAU was a major sponsor of
the national conference “White House
Initiative on HBCU” in Washington,
D.C., where U.S. Department of
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings,
pictured above, highlighted two new
grants—the Academic Competitiveness
Grant and the National Science and
Mathematics Access to Retain Talent
Grant—which will provide $790 million in
funding for the 2006-2007 academic year
and $4.5 billion over the next five years.
The grants encouraged students to take
more challenging high school courses
and pursue high-demand college majors,
specifically in math and science and in
certain foreign languages.
ORAU is also working with HBCUs to
advance their research enterprise through
the integration of research, innovation,
and commercialization and to create
opportunities for dialogue on education,
research, and policy issues that impact
continued growth and sustainability of
HBCUs.
17

Expanding Avenues for Partnerships with Other Federal Agencies
and Academe
The process of growing partnerships with DOE and
ORNL across many years has resulted in ORAU
becoming a leader in science education issues on a
national level, specifically the strengthening of science,
technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines
among American students of every age.
“Our world has changed and the global economy is
now driven by science and technology. For America to
remain the world’s economic leader, we must solidify
our position as the world’s technology leader,” said
ORAU President Ron Townsend. “To do that, America
must raise a world-class science and engineering
workforce. That can best happen by making STEM
education among our highest priorities.”
Strengthening the STEM disciplines in every grade,
from kindergarten to college undergraduates, is
precisely the goal of the Science and Engineering
Education Pilot Program (SEEPP), cosponsored
by ORAU, Carnegie Mellon University, Johns
Hopkins University, and Middle Tennessee State
University (MTSU).
This program is a direct result of ORAU’s
involvement in a grassroots movement to improve
STEM education known as Strategies in Engineering
Education K-16 (SEEK-16). ORAU helped facilitate
the first SEEK-16 Summit in Washington, D.C., in
2005, bringing together public school teachers and
university professors, business leaders, and government
officials.
The event drew the attention of U.S. Representative
Bart Gordon (Democrat-Tennessee), senior minority
member of the House Science Committee. Members
of Gordon’s staff contacted ORAU and Johns
Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, and MTSU—three
universities that have subsequently joined the
ORAU consortium—requesting a white paper on
recommendations resulting from the SEEK-16 Summit
workshops. That work resulted in language in the 2005
Energy Policy Act establishing SEEPP and placing it
on a list of 18 DOE Office of Science priority STEM
education programs.
To help bolster America’s competitiveness, ORAU
is participating in a grassroots movement to improve
education in science, technology, engineering, and
math disciplines and to foster a renewed enthusiasm
for these subjects in students from kindergarten
through college.
“This program is exciting because it provides a means
for classroom teachers to spend time in leading
research laboratories, learning first-hand the methods
that frontline scientists use every day,” Townsend
said. “The teachers will then be able to put those
same methods into their class curricula and give their
students a real taste of how science is done at the
highest levels.”
ORAU has supported SEEPP from its inception,
positioning it as a model to leverage best practices
in STEM education. The pilot phase of the program
kicks off in 2007.
18

Addressing National Policy Issues
In order to remain nationally and globally relevant,
American research universities must continually
examine the issues of the day and make their interests
and expertise known to decision makers who develop
national policy affecting academe. ORAU is uniquely
positioned to help facilitate an open and informed
dialog among our members and the federal government.
“We are eager to do whatever it takes to help our
member universities maintain a leadership role in
scientific research,” said John Nemeth, ORAU’s vice
president for Partnership Development. “ORAU’s
dedication to the success of our universities is based
on the larger goal of helping America maintain its
position as global leader in science and technology. We
believe ORAU has a role to play in helping our country
lead the world in science, and a consortium the size of
ORAU has the potential to provide a significant voice
in national policy.”
ORAU partners with academe, industry, and federal
agencies to address issues of national policy, such as
the use of nanotechnology in environmental and human
health applications.
Beyond establishing partnerships with national
associations, such as the Council of Graduate Schools,
the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, the Federal Laboratory Consortium for
Technology Transfer, the National Association of
State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the
Association of American Universities, ORAU has
hosted national policy forums related to issues such as
high-performance computing and graduate education.
Also in our role as cofounder of ORCAS, ORAU is not
only providing a voice in national policy but is helping
our country put policy into action.
Photo Credit: ORNL Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences.
19

From Education to Environmental
Health, ORCAS Influences a Broad
Spectrum of National Issues
In its second year of operation, ORCAS—a think
and do tank—shifted into high gear, helping our
country’s decision makers not only debate various
socioeconomic issues facing the U.S. but also work
toward doing something about them. Through a
variety of different workshops, ORCAS engaged
regional and national leaders in discussion and
problem-solving sessions aimed at improving
education and American competitiveness and
promoting energy, economic development, and
environmental health.
In March, ORCAS
hosted a workshop on
the globalization of
the university system,
with a focus on deemed
export policy. The
U.S. Department of
Commerce (DOC) has
called for Congress to
consider legislation
that would deem as
U.S. universities are expanding
abroad, such as Texas A&M
at Qatar, a small Arab nation
located in Southwest Asia,
and are learning to cope
with current and potential
regulations on foreign
students’ involvement with
research projects.
an export any release of controlled technology
to foreign nationals, including foreign visitors
or workers at U.S. private, public, or government
research laboratories. As universities extend their
global reach, both in hosting foreign students in the
U.S. and by creating overseas campuses, the threat
of illicit technology transfer and espionage is real.
However, universities are also dedicated to the
creation of knowledge and the continued success
of American research achievement. Thus, additional
regulatory burdens on researchers or limitations
on the pool of intellect that may participate could
reduce American competitiveness.
Thanks to the input from the workshop along
with many other conversations between DOC
and academic leaders and scientists, DOC’s
Undersecretary of the Bureau of Industry and
Security David H. McCormick announced that his
department had decided to “step back” from the
rule-making process and conduct a “top-to-bottom
review of deemed-export policy.”
One month later, ORCAS sponsored a two-day
national conference to address improvement of
math and science literacy in grades K-12. As a
result, Battelle asked ORCAS to develop a version
of the conference proceedings for Fortune 500
companies to use as a resource in funding decisions
about science and math literacy programs.
Shifting its focus to environmental health issues,
ORCAS partnered with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) in April to cosponsor
a workshop, “Nanotechnology Applications
in Environmental Health: Big Plans for Little
Particles,” at the EPA Research Triangle Park
campus in Durham, North Carolina. Top
nanotechnologists and environmental and
ecosystems health researchers discussed needs and
concerns about using nanosensors in environmental
monitoring, human exposure research, and
ecosystems research.
As increased energy demands caused energy
costs to reach all-time highs this summer,
ORCAS—on behalf of the Appalachian Regional
Commission (ARC)—facilitated roundtables
on energy efficiency for Appalachia. Scientists,
engineers, academicians, and federal and economicdevelopment
officials participated and helped
establish an “energy blueprint” they hope will
create more jobs as well as generate ideas for energy
efficiency in Appalachia.
“Entering our second year we have really seen the
pace increase,” said ORCAS Director Paul Gilman.
“I am gratified that along the way we have worked
with more than 75 universities, 13 federal agencies,
20 state agencies, and numerous private sector
organizations.”
Looking ahead, ORCAS plans further activities
in K-12 math and science literacy, based upon
encouragement from participants in the first
workshop. ORCAS also plans to expand its summer
student program by offering research opportunities
for undergraduates in policy analysis. Finally,
ORCAS is developing a working group of state and
local officials who might benefit from having access
to climate projections.
Image Information:
Methane gas from an adjacent six-acre landfill heats
the boilers that provide hot water to the greenhouses at
EnergyXchange in Burnsville, North Carolina. The energysaving
activities of the nonprofit corporation were one of
several energy projects highlighted at an ORCAS workshop
attended by regional energy experts.
20

Filling the Pipeline
of Future Science
and Technology
Leaders

Science Education Programs
“With nearly 5,000 participants in science education and
research programs, scholarships, and fellowships, for
high school faculty and students, undergrad and graduate
students, postdoc and faculty participants, ORAU is indeed
fulfilling its mission to prepare the nation’s next generation
of science and technology leaders.”
Wayne Stevenson, director of Science Education Programs
2006 Accomplishments:
Key Customers:
Our nation faces a crucial
need to increase the supply
of scientists and engineers
to meet future needs
in critical science and
technology areas. Students
in science, mathematics,
engineering, and technology
fields need the skills,
knowledge, and experience
to stay competitive
in an ever-changing
global marketplace. To
address these national
workforce and science
education needs, ORAU
provides a single resource
for developing and
administering high-quality,
experience-based programs
to fill the pipeline with the
next generation of science
and technology leaders.
• Administered educational initiatives with
more than $118 million in funding from 14
federal agencies
• Provided opportunities to nearly 5,000
participants from almost 900 colleges and
universities (of which nearly 10 percent are
minority-serving institutions)
• Provided appointments at 134 research facilities
• Doubled the number of participants since FY00
• Administered 30 different programs for ORNL,
serving more than 1,100 participants from nearly
250 colleges and universities in the U.S. and
around the world
• Assisted in the design and implementation of the
DOE Scholars Program to direct participants
toward careers in critical areas, including science,
engineering, and technology
FY06 Participants by Category
• U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE)
• National Aeronautics
and Space and
Administration
(NASA)
• Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (ORNL)
• U.S. Department of
Commerce (DOC)
• U.S. Department of
Defense (DOD)
Contact Information:
• U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services (DHHS)
• U.S. Department of
Homeland Security
(DHS)
• U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
(EPA)
• U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory
Commission (NRC)
Science Education Programs
(865) 576-3424, science.education@orau.org
www.orau.org/busops/sep http://see.orau.org
Minority Representation in ORAU Programs
Compared to Representation in Target Populations
22

ORISE Partners with DOE to Address Important Human Capital
Management Issues
Like many federal agencies, the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) knows that a significant percentage of
its current workforce will be eligible for retirement
within the next decade. To prepare for the expected
loss of human resources, DOE has designed the DOE
Scholars Program—an innovative approach to attract
today’s top students into the agency’s employment
pipeline.
DOE’s Office of Human Capital Management
requested that ORISE provide assistance to develop
and implement this exciting new program. ORISE will
arrange DOE internships for some of the nation’s top
undergraduates, graduate students, and recent graduates
studying disciplines such as science, engineering,
mathematics, computer science, safety and health,
accounting, finance, law, and other support areas.
ORISE will call on its experience in managing science
education programs to recruit and place interns at
DOE’s headquarters, operations offices, field offices,
laboratories, and other facilities. Participants will begin
by spending 10 weeks gaining DOE experience relevant
to their career goals. DOE will evaluate the interns as
potential candidates for additional internship, training,
and employment opportunities.
Recruiting for the first interns in the DOE Scholars
Program began in September 2006. ORISE expects to
place 200 interns with DOE in Summer 2007.
23

HIGHLIGHT
Longtime Education Partnership
with ORNL Helps to Address Future
Scientific Workforce Concerns
This year’s first place winner of the
state regional Tennessee Science
Bowl, administered by ORISE, was
The McCallie School, pictured above,
of Chattanooga. The DOE-sponsored
event was held in February in Alcoa,
Tennessee, and the winning school
went on to compete in the 2006 National
Science Bowl. Sponsored by DOE’s
Office of Science and conducted with
the assistance of ORISE, the National
Science Bowl brings together some of
America’s top high school students to
compete in all branches of science and
mathematics with a goal of encouraging
students to become more interested
in pursuing science and technology
careers. In the 16-year history of DOE’s
National Science Bowl, more than
100,000 students have participated in
the state regionals and national events.
For the 2006 national competition, 65
teams and more than 300 students from
43 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands
came to Washington, D.C., for the
competition.
Sixty years ago, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL) and ORAU began partnering to provide a
variety of research-oriented, educational experiences
to the academic community. Today, this longtime,
successful collaboration has resulted in the
development and administration of a broad-based
set of science education programs that not only
benefit faculty, students, and postgraduates but also
support the overall research mission of ORNL and
the development of its workforce. In an effort to
address emerging trends that indicate large populations
of scientists are reaching retirement age and too few
young scholars are currently entering the scientific
workforce, ORNL along with the ORAU-managed
ORISE have implemented several educational,
developmental, and knowledge-sharing programs.
Knowledge Preservation Program
ORNL is facing the loss of mission-critical knowledge
at the senior scientist level over the next five to 10
years as a large number of professionals become
eligible to retire. To counteract this, ORISE helped
ORNL implement the Knowledge Preservation
Program, which pairs researchers who are retired,
or otherwise have technical expertise, with existing
ORNL staff to preserve vital knowledge and skills
needed for current and future program commitments.
Participants pass on critical skills and knowledge by
developing training modules that transfer specific
skills and by establishing mentoring relationships with
existing ORNL staff members. Other federal entities
besides ORNL are also experiencing workforce issues
due to individuals retiring. ORISE also manages a
Knowledge Preservation Program for the U.S. Army.
Academies Creating Teacher Scientists
Professional Development Program
Preparing teachers to teach the next generation of
scientists and engineers is also a matter of concern.
The National Academies report, “Rising Above
the Gathering Storm,” recommends that teachers be
better prepared to teach science as inquiry rather
than as a collection of facts. To help address teacher
preparedness, ORISE partners with ORNL on the
Academies Creating Teacher Scientists (ACTS)
Professional Development Program at ORNL.
This DOE-sponsored national program places high
school teachers in three eight-week summer research
appointments at ORNL and other DOE laboratories.
The program is designed to transform teachers into
“teacher scientists,” with the goal of reenergizing
teachers to help renovate classroom instruction and,
thus, increasing student interest and achievement in
science and math courses and, eventually, the number
of students choosing science, technology, engineering,
Image Information:
For 60 years, ORAU has partnered with ORNL to provide
scientific and technical research opportunities to the academic
community. The programs offer opportunities for facultystudent
collaborative teams, as shown here, who work together
in a mentoring and research relationship.
24

PROFILE
or math careers. The ACTS program has grown from
four teachers in the summer of 2004 to a projected 35
during the summer of 2007, with an eightfold increase
in DOE funding.
Precollege Research Pilot Program
High school science teachers regularly report that
many students have chosen scientific career paths, but
these choices do not necessarily include research. To
change that, ORISE worked with ORNL to implement
a pilot program that places high school students at
ORNL for an afternoon a week to conduct hands-on
research under the guidance of experienced scientific
mentors. Sixteen students from an East Tennessee high
school, who are the best and brightest the school has
to offer, are participating in the pilot program.
“The partnership with ORAU has been a wonderful
contribution to Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s
science education outreach program,” said Billy Stair,
ORNL director of Communications and External
Relations. “ORAU not only administers the programs
well but also offers creative ways of helping the
Laboratory attract a new generation of young people
to careers in science.”
Award-winning Science Teacher
Chooses to Spend His Summers
in a National Lab
Mike Smith earns every paycheck. As the only
science teacher at Coalfield High School in
Coalfield, Tennessee, Smith teaches two levels
of biology, as well as ecology, physical science,
chemistry, human anatomy, and physiology.
But Smith’s school day does not end when classes
end. In addition to being a Coalfield school bus
driver, Smith also uses his planning period and
stays after school to teach scientific research
to a group of his students. Smith’s students
entered several research works into the Southern
Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair, placing
in six of the 11 award categories.
Smith and three other high school teachers were
recognized in September for being the first to
complete ACTS three-year summer program. All
four spent three summers at ORNL as part of
ongoing research teams.
“I think in order for America to charge ahead in
science, we have to change the way we teach
science,” he said. “This program has taught me
the tools to teach science in an inquiry style,
which is thinking scientifically rather than just
regurgitation of terms or following a ‘cook book’
style lab.”
Teachers participating at ORNL must complete
a series of requirements in addition to their
hands-on research—including seminars,
workshops, developmental plans—usually taking
more than the 40 hours per week they spend
in the laboratory. Although this summer ended
the teachers’ participation, through their newly
established networks, they will continue to use
resources at ORNL to help in the classroom.
Smith’s willingness to go above and beyond
did not go unnoticed. In 2005, he was awarded
a Milken Family Foundation National Educator
Award and $25,000 in cash—an annual award
that honors just 100 outstanding K-12 educators
from across the country.
Image Information:
Smith, a science teacher at Coalfield High School
in Morgan County, Tennessee, was a three-year
participant in DOE’s ACTS Program. Smith joined
a research team at ORNL to study if strobe lights
can steer gizzard shad, a type of fish, away from
TVA’s dam openings to prevent unnecessary loss
of aquatic life.
25

HIGHLIGHT
PROFILE
Former ORISE Participant Key
Member of Forensic Team Tasked to
Identify Frozen WWII Airman
Measuring aquatic organisms, building
robots, and using infrared imaging might
not sound like a summer vacation, but
that’s exactly what a group of 56 high
school teachers and students from 11
states did for two weeks in July 2006 at
ORNL. In its 17th year, the Appalachian
Regional Commission (ARC)/ORNL
2006 Math-Science-Technology
Summer Institute, administered by
ORISE, gave students and teachers a
chance to conduct research in one of
the country’s most renowned national
laboratories. During this year’s activities,
the 45 students, including Elizabeth
Campfield (pictured above) from Ohio’s
Vinton County High School, divided into
eight research groups led by mentors
from ORNL’s research staff, while
the 11 teachers conducted research
experiments with ORNL scientists.
Nestled in the frozen glacier of California’s Sierra
Nevada, the airman’s remains lay undiscovered for
more than six decades. One of four victims of a 1942
Army plane crash, his whereabouts were a mystery
until hikers discovered part of his arm and a shock of
blond hair protruding from the ice at an altitude of
nearly 12,500 feet. Sixty-three years later, specialized
forensics helped identify the missing soldier.
Paul Emanovsky, a former ORISE research
participant in the Research Participation Program at
the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command/Central
Identification Laboratory (JPAC-CIL) in Hickam,
Hawaii, helped unravel the mystery in the glacier. As
a forensic anthropologist with JPAC-CIL, Emanovsky
uses his biology background to perform recovery and
identification of unaccounted-for service members.
During examination, a corroded name badge became a
key factor in identifying the fallen soldier. Emanovsky
and fellow anthropologists could make out the letters
“EO A. M.” The accident report listed 22-year-old Leo
M. Mustonen as one of the deceased airmen. However,
the middle initial on the name badge did not match.
The only other way to make positive identification
was to match mitochondrial DNA to a sample taken
from a maternal relative, yet the only relatives found
were from Mustonen’s paternal ancestry. DNA from
the maternal relatives of the three other men did not
match Mustonen’s DNA.
Emanovsky and the rest of the team concluded that
Mustonen’s name badge had simply been misspelled.
After exhausting all reasonable possibilities, they
determined that the missing airman was Leo
Mustonen. After 63 years, Mustonen was finally laid
to rest in his hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota.
Emanovsky explained that his work may have never
been possible if not for the opportunity to work with
ORISE. “The presence of so many anthropologists
from a variety of academic backgrounds ensures
research collaborations that you cannot find in a
traditional academic environment,” he explained. “The
applied nature of the work and the importance of the
mission make the job so multifaceted and incredible!”
Image Information:
Former ORISE participant and JPAC-CIL anthropologist
Emanovsky examines forensic evidence. Emanovsky played a
key role in the identification of the missing 1942 airman found
in the Sierra Nevada. Photo courtesy of JPAC-CIL.
26

HIGHLIGHT
PROFILE
Young African Leaves Home to
Further Mathematical and Computer
Science Knowledge in the U.S.
A participant in the ORNL Postdoctoral Research
Associates Program, Sylvain Nintcheu Fata is
helping to develop improved mathematical tools
used in large-scale computer models that will reduce
computational input and uploading time.
Interest in nature and the evolution of physical
processes has taken Nintcheu Fata around the world
in his search for knowledge and far from his home
in Cameroon, Africa. A participant in the ORNL
Postdoctoral Research Associates Program this
summer, Nintcheu Fata’s road to Tennessee has been
one of focus and determination but also of great
sacrifice. Based on an advisor’s recommendation to
consider a top mathematics and physics school in
Russia, Nintcheu Fata applied and was accepted. At
age 17, he left his family in Africa and moved nearly
4,000 miles away.
After receiving his bachelor’s and master’s of science
degrees in mechanics and mathematics at Moscow
State University in 1998 and after working summers in
Germany to fund his education, Nintcheu Fata heard
about an opportunity in civil engineering in the U.S. at
the University of Minnesota (UMN). He applied and
was accepted via a full paid Sommerfeld Fellowship,
a program available through UMN’s Department of
Civil Engineering, where Nintcheu Fata received a
Ph.D. in civil engineering in 2003.
His educational exploration did not end in the
Midwest. After graduate school, Nintcheu Fata
applied to ORNL’s postdoctoral program, which is
administered by ORISE, and he was offered a position
with Dr. Leonard J. Gray in ORNL’s Computer
Science and Mathematics Division.
Nintcheu Fata developed and enhanced mathematical
tools used with large-scale computer models, thereby
enabling computer simulations involving millions of
unknowns on easily available computer clusters at a
reduced computational time with minimal computer
memory usage.
“The ORNL program is a highly distinctive one with
outstanding scientific and original achievements,” said
Nintcheu Fata. “Participating in this program has
been a wonderful experience, and, with my goal of
learning new things in a rigorous and unique manner,
it has opened new doors of opportunity for my
professional career.”
Image Information:
A participant in the ORNL Postdoctoral Research Associates
Program, Nintcheu Fata is helping to develop improved
mathematical tools used in large-scale computer models that
will reduce computational input and uploading time.
The U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) Scholarship and
Fellowship Program, administered by
ORISE for DHS, engages participants
in research that addresses current and
future homeland security challenges.
Begun in 2003, the program provides
full tuition and fees at any institution
for up to two years of undergraduate
study or three years of graduate study, a
monthly stipend, and a 10-week summer
internship. In 2006, the program
added the possibility of a fourth year
of DHS support via a dissertation grant
award available to students pursuing
doctorate degrees. Sixteen successful
DHS fellows, four of whom are pictured
above, submitted proposals in April
for the 2006-2007 academic year and
received the $10,000 award.
27

HIGHLIGHT
PROFILE
Future Teacher Takes Lab Experience
into the Classroom
A future biology teacher and intern at ORNL this
summer, Angela Reevely had some friendly advice
for her fellow teachers working in a laboratory: Wear
comfortable shoes.
In the first year of the National
Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) Postdoctoral
Program (NPP) administered by ORAU,
approximately 155 participants across
a wide range of scientific disciplines,
including space science, earth science,
aeronautics research, space operations,
exploration systems, and astrobiology,
have gained research experience at
NASA’s research centers. Above, Dr.
Sayata Ghose, a participant in the
NPP, performed research dealing with
high temperature polymides, carbon
nanotubes, and nanofibers. Also in
2006, NPP extended fellowship offers
to more than 50 new participants, and
more than 60 fellowships were renewed.
Reevely conducted some experiments requiring 72-
hour monitoring. Her research examined a bacterium
called Shewanella oneidensis, which can break down
toxic chemicals, such as chromium and uranium, in soil
and sediment, ultimately preventing leaching of the
pollutants into groundwater.
Reevely, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in
biology from Tuskegee University in May 2006 and
began a master’s program in science education in the
fall, interned at ORNL as a part of the laboratory’s
Higher Education Research Experience program,
which is administered by ORISE. She applied for the
program, she said, because of her positive experience
at the lab in 2005 when she interned as a part of
DOE’s Pre-Service Teacher Internship program.
As a part of her master’s program, Reevely, who will
teach middle school and high school science, said she
is looking forward to passing along to her students
what she has learned in the lab, such as how to use
a gassing station, which flushes out oxygen from
bacterial cultures, and how to use a liquid nitrogen
tank for freezing samples.
“My experience will ultimately help me to prepare my
students for a well-rounded laboratory experience in
the classroom and hopefully later in their careers,” she
said.
One of the highlights of her experience at ORNL
was when a group of former teachers, advisors, and
fellow students from Tuskegee University visited and
toured the lab. Reevely presented her research to the
group, and she encouraged the students to apply for
scholarships and internships. “I informed the students
that there are several programs and scholarships that
are available and will fund…our education, but we
must be proactive and apply,” she said.
Image Information:
Reevely studied the bacterium S. oneidensis, which can be
used in bioremediation efforts. The organism’s capabilities
allow for a possibly more efficient and cost-effective way to
clean polluted soil, sediment, and groundwater.
28

PROFILE
FaST Program
Introduces
Participants to
Mutated Mice
Handling mutant rodents
might sound like something
out of a science fiction movie,
but for Dr. Lisa Webb and
two of her students, it was
just another day at the office
at ORNL. As participants in
DOE’s Faculty and Student
Team (FaST) Program, Webb
and her team tried to determine the baseline phenotypes
of mutated mice by studying characteristics such as their
organ weights, blood chemistry, and response to cold
stress.
An assistant professor in biology at Christopher Newport
University (CNU) in Virginia, Webb and two of her
undergraduate biology students—Susan Kenney and
Terri Kaminsky—worked with mentor Dr. Dabney K.
Johnson, a senior staff scientist and group leader in the
Mouse Genetics and Genomics Program at ORNL.
To determine the mice’s genetic traits, the team
measured the animals’ physical and biochemical
characteristics. Mice typically maintain their core body
temperature in cold environments. However, some of
the mice in the experiments did not. To find out why,
the team exposed the subjects to cold and compared
the results, ultimately aiming for a better understanding
of energy balance in mice and the role of dietary fat in
energy-balance control. The knowledge gained could be
used to help understand the physical makeup of humans.
A veteran of ORNL, Webb earned her Ph.D. from
the University of Tennessee and did her dissertation
research at ORNL’s mouse house. Webb said she got
involved with the FaST Program to complete biomedical
research that she normally could not do at CNU and to
involve her students in world-class research. Webb said
she plans to take what she has learned at ORNL and
incorporate it into her classroom for the next generation
of scientists.
“My summer experience here will definitely affect how I
teach [the senior seminar on mouse models of human
diseases],” she said. “I will hopefully have a wealth of
information from my summer experience that I can use to
facilitate that seminar.”
Image Information:
Kenney (left), Webb (center), and Kaminsky,
participants in the FaST Program, conducted
research to determine the baseline phenotypes of
mice at ORNL.
29

PROFILE
ORISE Intern Teamed with Army
Reserve to Protect Environment
Karen White is doing her duty for the U.S. Army
but not in the way many people might think.
In July 2005, White was appointed to the U.S.
Army Environmental Command’s Environmental
Management Participant Program as an ORISE
program participant. There, White studied natural
and cultural resources on Army Reserve properties
and the effect that the Reserve’s mission activities
had on the surrounding environment.
As a conservation technician intern, White’s
program took her to Atlanta at the Installation
Management Agency-Army Reserve Office.
Whenever the Reserve considered any type of
property action, such as buying or selling land,
White helped to ensure that the military branch’s
decisions were made with the environment in mind.
One case involved property on the North Carolina
coastline. The military branch considered selling
the property, but White said, with endangered
manatees and a threatened species of butterfly
inhabiting the area, the Reserve was making certain
that whoever purchased the land did not negatively
impact either species or their habitats.
The Army Reserve is responsible for properties in
all 50 states, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and
Europe. White said the Reserve makes an effort to
work closely with federal and state environmental
agencies, who review the Reserve’s projects to make
sure they are following proper procedures.
“By word of mouth, they said ‘we have an ORISE
person who has done really well here’,” she
explained. “People told me ORISE opens doors.
In my case, it not only opened the door but led me
through it.”
A 2006 graduate of Randolph-Macon College in
Virginia, White majored in biology and had not
considered a career in environmental compliance.
But following her internship with ORISE, she was
hooked. After the ORISE program ended in March,
Image Information:
White, a participant in ORISE’s U.S. Army Environmental
Command’s Environmental Management Participant
Program, uses a global positioning system to conduct
surveys near an Army Reserve base in Alabama. White has
studied the impact of military activities on the environment,
including endangered and threatened species like the
butterfly, pictured above, manatees, and the Indiana bat.
White earned a position with the 81st Regional
Readiness Command in Birmingham, Alabama.
She said the people she interacted with during her
internship helped her find a job and jump-start her
new career.
Now charged with the environmental stewardship
of Army Reserve property in eight southeastern
states, White says she makes many of the same
contributions but with added responsibility. In
addition to ensuring environmental compliance,
she also works on the restoration of contaminated
property, pollution prevention, and preservation of
cultural and natural resources.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without the
ORISE program,” White said, “and I will be
forever grateful for what the program and the
ORISE staff did for me.”
30

Answering the Need
for Responsive
Worker Health
Solutions

Worker Health Programs
“The heart of our mission is to focus on former nuclear
workers and help them through testing processes that
would be difficult for them to accomplish on their own. In
so doing, we are committed to research that focuses on
hazards in the workplace and how those hazards affect the
health and safety of workers.”
Donna Cragle, director of Occupational Exposure and
Worker Health Programs
2006 Accomplishments:
Key Partners:
Key Customers:
When the diagnosis is
illness or disease linked
to workers’ occupational
radiation or other hazardous
substances exposure,
workers need a responsive
and medically competent
system to address their
health needs. DOE and
NIOSH, specifically, needed
an effective, national
system to manage the
health needs of current
and former nuclear workers
in an accurate, timely,
and cost-efficient manner.
ORAU has established
effective partnerships on
a national scale to provide
innovative worker health
solutions and has the
experience and expertise
necessary to manage this
system with the highest
levels of quality and
integrity.
• Provided free medical screenings to at least
1,900 people in 47 states, Puerto Rico, and
Canada in the first year of the National
Supplemental Screening Program for former DOE
nuclear workers
• Completed 3,070 Lymphocyte Proliferation Tests
with an error rate of 0.16 percent
• Completed nearly 8,000 dose reconstructions
for the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH)—a total of approximately
160 per week
Key Facts:
• Manage Beryllium Lymphocyte Proliferation
Testing Lab for DOE, one of only five in the U.S.
• Serve as data center for illness and injury
surveillance reporting of 14 DOE sites; 120,000+
workers tracked cumulatively
• Maintain the Beryllium Registry for 18 DOE sites;
30,000 active workers tracked cumulatively
• Collect data for DOE’s Radiation Exposure
Monitoring System with 98 organizations
reporting for 30 DOE sites; 540,000+ workers
tracked cumulatively; more than 3.2 million total
radiation exposure records
• Comprehensive
Health Services, Inc.
• Dade Moeller &
Associates, Inc.
• MJW Corp., Inc.
• National Jewish
Medical and Research
Center
• Occupational
HealthLink
• University of
Colorado
Contact Information:
• U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE)
• U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services (DHHS)
• U.S. Department of
Labor (DOL)
• DuPont
Occupational Exposure and Worker Health Programs
(865) 576-3115
occ.health@orau.org
www.orau.org/busops/oews
• National Supplemental Screening Program
1-866-812-6703 (www.orau.org/nssp)
• Beryllium Vendors Medical Screening Program
1-866-219-3448 (Oak Ridge, TN, office)
1-866-812-6703 (Arvada, CO, office)
• Radiation Dose Reconstruction Project
1-800-322-0111
32

Former DOE Worker Medical Screening Program in Full Swing
More than 2,500 former U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) workers have signed up for free medical
screenings during this initial year of the National
Supplemental Screening Program (NSSP), managed
by ORAU. At least 1,900 workers in 47 states, Puerto
Rico, and Canada have already visited a medical clinic
near their residence for examinations. ORAU hopes
to complete 2,300 screenings during this first year of
screening in the five-year program.
ORAU—along with its partners National Jewish
Medical and Research Center, Comprehensive Health
Services, Inc., and Occupational HealthLink—won
a competitive bid in the spring of 2005 to manage
this expansion of DOE’s Former Worker Medical
Screening Program.
The $19.7 million contract involves screenings
designed to identify occupational diseases, such as
chronic respiratory illnesses, hearing loss, kidney or
liver disease, and some forms of cancer.
The ORAU team, led by Dr. Donna Cragle, designed
a sophisticated, paperless information flow for the
screening process, which has received glowing reports.
In satisfaction surveys, patients said the system works
quickly and provides helpful, comprehensive results.
After completing a health and exposure questionnaire,
all workers receive a basic screening that includes a
physical exam, blood test, and hearing test. Based on
work history, some workers might receive additional
tests, such as lung function testing, chest X-ray, or
specialized exams related to beryllium, asbestos, or
epoxy resin exposures.
ORAU communicates all results, including
recommendations for follow-up, in a detailed report
mailed to participants. Although turnaround time can
be a challenge due to the multiple tests involved, the
ORAU team has worked to reduce the time from the
exam to when the patient receives results.
An NSSP Advisory Board was established to oversee the
process and review work completed. “It is important
for a program of this magnitude to have an advisory
board in terms of accountability and working with
DOE,” Cragle said. The board has met three times
and has been “very well received and representative of
various disciplines,” she added.
The National Supplemental Screening Program for
former nuclear workers got under way this year with
more than 2,500 people already signed up for free
medical screenings.
Board members are Mike Colligan, NIOSH; Charles D.
Miller, retired human resources director for the Kansas
City Plant; Lewis Pepper, principal investigator for
the Northern California and Nevada Test Site Former
Worker Programs; Joe Majestic, former environmental,
safety, and health director for the Pinellas Plant;
Robert McCunney, occupational medicine specialist;
John Semler, former worker of the Princeton Plasma
Physics Laboratory; and Jamie Stalker, Argonne
National Laboratory medical director.
33

ORAU Team Assists with Dose
Reconstruction Claims for
Atomic Veterans
While serving our country during the early years of
atomic energy, some military personnel may have
been exposed to enough radiation to cause them to
have cancer later in life. These “atomic veterans”
participated in atmospheric nuclear weapons tests
at the Nevada Test Site or Pacific Proving Grounds
or served as occupation troops or prisoners of war
near Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of
World War II.
If the cancer is linked to these exposures, the
veterans may be eligible for benefits from the
U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs through the
Nuclear Test Personnel Review (NTPR) program.
The NTPR is operated by the Defense Threat
Reduction Agency (DTRA).
In March 2006, the team of ORAU, MJW Corp.,
Inc., and Dade Moeller & Associates, Inc., began
participating in the dose reconstruction component
of the NTPR program. The new $3 million dose
reconstruction support contract is through L3-
Titan, a provider of intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance systems, and DTRA’s primary
program support contractor.
The NTPR has performed some 4,000 dose
reconstructions since 1978; however, a 2003
National Academy of Sciences audit identified
several issues in the methods. As a result, 1,200
cases must be reworked in addition to continuing
to process new claims.
The ORAU team is
assisting with this rework
as well as the new cases
and plans to partner
with L3-Titan to provide
support on all phases of
the program, said Dr. Dick
Toohey, ORAU director
for dose reconstruction
programs. The team’s role includes deciding on
the appropriate dose reconstruction method;
defining the scenario of participation and radiation
exposure, which essentially places a veteran in
a specific time and location either at a weapons
test or in Hiroshima or Nagasaki; performing
independent reviews of draft dose reconstructions;
and developing and applying expedited methods for
dose reconstructions.
The support contract spanned from March through
October 2006. The ORAU team also is working
with NIOSH and DTRA to help bring consistency
to the ways these federal programs handle claims
for similar exposures through the NTPR and
NIOSH’s Energy Employees Occupational Illness
Compensation Program Act.
Image Information:
Military personnel observe the Small Boy event, the
detonation of a bomb to test the effects of an atomic blast,
at Frenchmen Flats, Area 5, of the Nevada Test Site. Photo
courtesy of the National Nuclear Security Administration/
Nevada Site Office.
34

Initial Dose Reconstruction Project
for Nuclear Weapons Industry
Workers Nearly Complete
The ORAU Team has nearly reached its goal
to eliminate the backlog of radiation dose
reconstructions for NIOSH. Dade Moeller &
Associates, Inc., and MJW Corp., Inc., teamed with
ORAU on the five-year contract.
With nearly 80 percent of the project
complete, the team is working toward an orderly
conclusion by September 11, 2007, when the
contract officially draws to a close, said Kate
Kimpan, ORAU’s director of the NIOSH dose
reconstruction project.
Dose reconstructions characterize the radiation
environment to which nuclear weapons industry
workers were exposed by using available monitoring
information. The Energy Employees Occupational
Illness Compensation Program Act provides
monetary compensation to workers (or their
survivors) who have died or become ill as a result
of such exposure.
About 360 sites are covered by the program, and
claims have been received from more than 200
sites. ORAU was initially provided about 22,400
cases for investigation. By the end of fiscal year
2006, 17,100 dose reconstructions had been
completed, about 2,000 cases had been added to
the Special Exposure Cohort (see highlight, next
page), and approximately 3,300 cases remained,
with about 50 new cases arriving per
week. The project also calls for the
ORAU Team to conduct personal
interviews with the claimants, retrieve
and validate individual and workplace
monitoring data, and develop site
profiles that describe the radiation exposure
conditions at various DOE and contractor facilities.
The team has completed 40 site profiles, which
cover almost 90 percent of the cases received.
The radiation dose reconstruction project managed
by ORAU for NIOSH is nearly complete. Four years
after the program began, more than 17,000 dose
reconstruction cases have been completed with only
about 3,300 remaining. The contract comes to a
close in September 2007.
Cumulative Dose Reconstruction Production
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
Month, FY03-06
Done
To do
Results of completed dose reconstructions are
provided by NIOSH to the workers and the U.S.
Department of Labor, which determines whether
a worker is to be compensated. The compensation
decision is based on the probability of the worker’s
cancer actually being caused by the worker’s
radiation exposure.
0
Oct Feb Jun Oct Feb Jun Oct Feb Jun Oct Feb Jun
35

HIGHLIGHTS
ORISE is collaborating with National Jewish Medical and
Research Center on two research studies involving
different aspects of beryllium sensitivity (BeS)
and chronic beryllium disease (CBD). In one study,
ORISE helped recruit, interview, and test current and
former worker volunteers from the Y-12 National Security
Complex known to have been exposed to beryllium.
The study aimed at defining exposure-specific variables
alone and in combination with genetic factors in the
development of BeS and CBD. In another study, ORISE
helped recruit and test a group of former beryllium
vendor employees for a prospective trial of two new
assays that may have fewer limitations than in the
standard beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test. Both
studies were approved by all responsible Institutional
Review Boards.
The ORAU Team has continued to support NIOSH in the
evaluation of Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) petitions.
If a site is added to the SEC, workers with any of 22
presumptive cancers do not require dose reconstruction
but are automatically compensated. Five sites were
added to the SEC in 2006: Ames Laboratory in Ames,
Iowa; Linde Ceramics Plant in Tonawanda, New York;
the Nevada Test Site (for workers employed from 1951-
1962) in Mercury, Nevada; Pacific Proving Grounds at
Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands; and the Y-12 Plant
(for workers from 1948-1957) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
As a new addition to the evaluation process in 2006,
NIOSH may invite claimants to submit SEC petitions if it
is determined that radiation doses cannot be calculated
with sufficient accuracy at a particular site for a specific
time period or job category. Photo courtesy of Y-12
National Security Complex.
36

Enhancing National
Preparedness for
Public Health
Threats

Public Health Programs
“Catastrophic health emergencies, such as those potentially caused by pandemic flu, bird
flu, SARS, or radiological terrorism, threaten our nation’s health. We are working with all
levels of government and the nation’s public health system in preventing and controlling
the spread of infectious diseases and ensuring we are prepared to respond to an epidemic.
Effective communication of health information to a diverse public may prove to be as critical
as the medical treatment itself.”
Marcus Weseman, director of Professional and Technical Training programs
2006 Accomplishments:
Key Customers:
Key Partners:
As public fear about
pandemic flu, radiological
terrorism, and other
serious health threats
increases, so does the
need for effective public
health communication
and education. ORAU is
helping the nation prepare
for catastrophic public
health events and control
and prevent the spread
of infectious disease. We
are developing health
communication materials,
health preparedness
exercises, and custom
training solutions for all
levels of government and
the public health system.
• Conducted pandemic flu exercises at airports,
seaports, and land-based border crossings
• Coordinated a national pandemic flu preparedness
workshop for federal/state/local governmental
managers and private sector health personnel
• Developed training materials for emergency room
physicians responding to mass casualties from a
radiological incident
• Analyzed 35,000+ news stories on health issues
• Prepared the National Aviation Resource Manual
for Quarantinable Diseases
• Developed Web-based training in cancer education
for clinicians
• Trained faculty and staff at Historically
Black Colleges and Universities in the use of
medical information to address health disparities
• Conducted human health assessments of 14
hazardous chemicals, including formaldehyde,
arsenic, and asbestos
Key Facts:
• U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE)
• Centers for Disease
Control and
Prevention (CDC)
• National Library of
Medicine (NLM)
• U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
(EPA)
• Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC)
• U.S. Department of
Transportation
(DOT)
• National Cancer
Institute (NCI)
• The Center for Risk
Communication
• Syracuse Research
Corp.
• Environ Corp.
• Integrated Solutions
and Services, Inc.
• Develop specialized public communication,
training programs, and learning tools utilizing
interactive technology and outreach education
• Prepare federal agencies and state health
departments for public health crises through
exercises, drills, and crisis/emergency risk
communications planning
• Assess human health hazards through data
collection, research, and evaluation
Contact Information:
Professional and Technical Training Programs
(865) 576-3420
health.communication@orau.org
technical.training@orau.org
www.orau.org/busops/healthcomm
38

Effective Communication on the Risk of Pandemic and Avian Flu Is Major
ORISE Focus
“Bird flu and pandemic influenza
are pretty much the same.”
This statement, while misguided, was just one of
many similar incorrect assumptions that participants
expressed in ORISE focus group sessions held this
year, indicating the need for more education around
pandemic and avian influenzas. The task of educating
the public is not an easy one. Public health officials
must raise alarm but also assuage fears, empathize with
sometimes misguided public opinion, and advocate
a rapid response in the face of great uncertainty
about the risk itself. They must also help the public
differentiate between pandemic flu (a global disease
outbreak of a new influenza strain) and avian flu (a
disease of birds but currently very limited in humans).
In 2006, ORISE lent its expertise to this endeavor. In
a report issued on behalf of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department
of Health and Human Services (DHHS), ORISE
published findings on communication materials
addressing pandemic flu issues that had been tested on
physicians and the public via focus groups. The research
indicated that avian (bird) flu awareness is high but
knowledge is limited despite intense media coverage and
that the disease is generally perceived as geographically
remote, confined primarily to Asia.
Focus groups with the public were also conducted to
test materials addressing the use of protective masks
and to assess public understanding of the differences
between bird flu and pandemic flu. The findings
indicated that the public is looking to the government
for direction on whether masks will help prevent the
spread of the disease. Results also indicated that
general knowledge of the difference between pandemic
flu and bird flu is limited at best.
ORISE also facilitated workshops where interdepartmental
and interdisciplinary teams of experts
from government agencies, such as DHHS, the CDC,
and the Food and Drug Administration, developed
messages for local and state governments in responding
to questions about bird flu and pandemic flu.
ORISE is helping government agencies with prevention,
preparation for, and response to the threat
of pandemic flu and avian (or bird) flu.
The tested messages addressed issues that ORISE
identified through extensive media content analysis
and various scenarios for which DHHS wants to be
prepared, such as loss-of-work-time effects on the
economy and other widespread social disruption,
including issues with mass transit, school closures, and
basic life necessities.
ORISE’s ongoing media content analysis project—a
Web-based database for media analysis called
INFORM (Immunization News for Managers)—
continued to be populated by ORISE through a review
39

HIGHLIGHT
of approximately 8,000 articles from domestic and
international news sources relating to bird flu and
pandemic flu. A redesign of INFORM is currently
under way to improve the system, allowing it to handle
up to a tenfold increase in news coverage.
Additional health communication work related
to pandemic flu included the translation of
communication materials into Thai for review
and testing by public health officials in Thailand.
ORISE also conducted training and a workshop for
Kentucky state public health and other emergency
communicators and developed the State of Kentucky
Emergency Communication Guide: Pandemic Annex
to complement statewide pandemic planning and
communication efforts.
Comments from General Public Reveal Communication Gaps
In 2006, ORISE coordinated the
workshop “Pandemic Influenza—Past,
Present and Future.” Historians and
government officials identified modern
pandemic flu issues based on the 1918-
1919 influenza pandemic, which killed
more than 675,000 Americans and more
than 20 million people worldwide. Topics
discussed at the workshop included
how children and parents suffered, the
increase in numbers of orphans, and
how pregnant women were affected
disproportionately. They also looked at
how banks, courts, and hospitals were
affected and how absenteeism rates
affected industries, such as shipyards
that were crucial to the war effort at
that time. This helped identify issues for
consideration by communicators and
policy makers and provided guidance
for developing communication materials
that can be used in the event of a flu
pandemic today.
When participants were
interviewed in ORISE
focus groups this year
about what they know
about pandemic and avian
influenza, the comments
revealed limited
knowledge about the
diseases and what can be
done to protect individuals from getting infected.
Focus group participants were quoted as saying
the following:
About the seriousness of bird flu…
• “I mostly heard about it through the TV
news…very dangerous disease starting in
China.”
• “I don’t think it’s any more scary than
regular flu.”
• “A little scary, but not close enough.”
About preparation…
• “Give me a list of what I need to do to live
through this.”
• “If these masks are a big deal, they need to
be tested in the real world.”
• “Makes me think I should go ahead and buy
a bunch of [masks] and stash them away.”
Many participants also said their preferred
strategy for actually dealing with a pandemic flu
would be to have the government make a specific
vaccine at the start of a pandemic and provide
it to high-risk groups first. While participants
were surprised that initial production of a
vaccine would take at least six months, they had
confidence in U.S. technological capacity to
overcome problems in the event of a pandemic.
Photo by Jim Gathany.
40

ORISE Prepares U.S. Ports of
Entry for the Threat of Flu from
International Sources
In an effort to prepare American airport and
customs authorities for the threat of flu entering
the country, ORISE conducted tabletop exercises
on behalf of CDC at international airports of
entry into the U.S. Some of these exercises involved
areas with existing quarantine stations (Los
Angeles, Chicago, and Hawaii). Other exercises
were conducted in cities with newly established
quarantine stations (Washington, D.C.-Dulles,
Houston, and San Juan, Puerto Rico). The exercises
involved scenarios of arriving overseas airline
passengers with worsening symptoms of influenza.
Representatives from airport authorities, airlines,
quarantine stations, hospitals, and first responders
“walked through” their responses and identified
strengths and areas for improvement in working
with the issues and parties involved.
Additionally, ORISE conducted flu preparedness
exercises in two landlocked U.S. ports-of-entry
cities (El Paso and Laredo, Texas), where new
quarantine stations
had just opened. These
exercises were designed
to help examine the
coordination among
DHS, Customs and
Border Protection,
and DHHS quarantine stations. More than 600
emergency response personnel participated in the
eight exercises.
In the near future, ORISE will conduct nine
additional flu tabletop exercises at a variety of new
and existing quarantine stations. These tabletops
will address flu preparedness activities at all ports
of entry—airports, seaports, and landlocked ports.
ORISE also prepared the National Aviation
Resource Manual for Quarantinable Diseases
for the U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT). The manual deals with the planning
and preparation for, response to, and recovery
from a quarantinable disease incident at a U.S.
international airport. While there are nine
quarantinable diseases, there are only three—
smallpox, SARS, and pandemic flu—that would
require an elevated response as outlined in the
manual. The manual has been reviewed by the
Executive Office of the President, the White House
Homeland Security Council, and most cabinetlevel
departments and has been approved by the
Secretaries of Transportation and DHHS. It is
available on the DOT Web site.
Image Information:
With the threat of pandemic flu ever present, federal
agencies such as the CDC have raised concerns that
the virus could enter the country from arriving overseas
airline passengers. On behalf of the CDC, ORISE
conducted exercises, such as the one represented above,
at international airports in the U.S. to help prepare for
dealing with the virus and other quarantinable diseases.
Photo by Gerald Nino.
41

ORISE Supports CDC
Radiological Terrorism Training
Efforts for Physicians and
Clinicians
“This is HAZMAT central command to County
General confirming the presence of radioactive
materials—repeat—radiation has been confirmed
at the explosion site. This appears to be a dirty
bomb detonation and a mass casualty incident.”
While this dialogue can be found on television
programming to simulate hospital emergency room
drama, the potential for actual terrorism that would
result in mass casualties and place an incredible
strain on our public health system is very real in
America today. And for public health practitioners,
when a radiological threat is involved, the situation
becomes even more daunting (see sidebar, right).
The CDC is helping to lead training and education
efforts to prepare the public health workforce,
including doctors, nurses, and other clinicians,
for response to such incidents involving radiation.
Specifically, the CDC has developed a tool kit for
hospital emergency service clinicians in the event
of a nuclear or radiological incident.
Several training videos—such as “Radiological
Terrorism: Medical Response to Mass Casualties,”
a CD-ROM and Web-based training program
produced by ORISE—were included in the kit. The
ORISE-produced program includes six scenarios
depicting hypothetical radiological terrorism
incidents with footage shot at ORISE’s Radiation
Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site.
The kit also includes fact sheets, a pocket guide,
and brochures. The target audience includes
physicians, nurses, and other clinicians working
in emergency services in hospital first-receiver
settings.
Research conducted by the CDC indicated that
physicians and nurses have significant concerns
about responding to a radiological or nuclear
terrorism incident. Personal fears with respect to
radiation and the perceived inability to assist due
to a lack of training are paramount concerns and
have led to the need for this type of additional
training and education effort by the CDC.
In October 2006, ORISE supported CDC’s
distribution of the tool kit with an initial direct
mailing of the kit to all hospitals in the U.S with a
minimum of 250 beds. In addition, the Association
of State and Territorial Health Officials is assisting
in disseminating the tool kit to all state directors
of emergency preparedness.
Will Health Care Workers Respond
in a Catastrophic Disaster Involving
Radiation?
A 2005 article, “Health Care Workers’
Ability and Willingness to Report to
Duty During Catastrophic Disasters,”
published in the Journal of Urban Health
reported that more than 6,400 health care
workers from 47 health care facilities in
and around New York City were surveyed
about their willingness to respond following
catastrophic disasters. Noteworthy findings
were that fear and misunderstanding of a
radiation event response were far in excess
of those for most biological or chemical
events among health care workers. Barriers
to their willingness to respond included
personal fears and family safety concerns.
Such findings were consistent across all
types of health care facilities.
Image Information:
Emergency room physicians conduct a mock exercise
simulating a terror incident involving radiation. ORISE is
working with the CDC to train health care workers on how
to respond when a radiological event occurs.
42

PROFILE
Summer Research Team Develops
Bond over Bacterial Viruses
Dr. Walter Shumate’s unique research team
spent the summer of 2006 studying virus survival
times on household surfaces, as well as which
commercially available methods are best for
decontaminating viruses from those surfaces.
Shumate and his two students, Kenya Dials and
Lucas Williams, conducted their research at
Michigan State University as participants in the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Summer Research Team Program for Minority-
Serving Institutions, administered by ORISE.
Shumate teaches at Wiley College, an Historically
Black College and University (HBCU) in Texas.
While Williams attends Wiley, Dials attends Miles
College, an HBCU in Alabama. Michigan State
University is a major partner, along with six other
research universities, in the recently named DHSfunded
Center for Advancing Microbial Research
Assessment (CAMRA). The mission of CAMRA
is to develop and transfer to users of the center
creative methods to assess the risk of exposure
to pathogens in air, water, and soil, and on hard
surfaces in both indoor and outdoor environments.
The intent of the program is to provide research
opportunities to diverse and highly talented
individuals in order to increase and enhance
the scientific leadership at minority-serving
institutions in research areas that support the
mission and goals of DHS. In addition, the
program is designed to engage early career faculty,
along with undergraduate and graduate students,
in research that will provide them opportunities to
understand the mission and research needs of DHS
and advance research areas of importance to the
department.
In this program, faculty and student team members
typically attend the same institution during the
academic year, but Shumate agreed to allow Dials
to join his team when her faculty member was
unable to participate at the last minute. Shumate
has a Ph.D. in physical chemistry, while both
Williams and Dials are working on undergraduate
degrees in biology.
The student team turned out to be a perfect match
for Shumate. His favorite part of the experience
he said was the “feeling of camaraderie” that he
experienced in the lab. “A good lab performs at
its best when each member acts as part of a whole
unit, and this was fortunately the case in our lab.
That feeling of cooperation while striving toward a
common goal is truly a blessing,” he said.
A typical day at the lab consisted of recovering
a model virus from the surface in question or
examining the virus and calculating exactly how
much of it was recovered. The research will
determine which methods would be easiest and
most effective for the common household to
decontaminate household surfaces.
“I was not fully aware of the methods by which
bacteriophages (viruses that specifically target
bacteria) can exploit their bacterial hosts or
how careful a researcher must be to avoid
contamination,” Shumate said. “I have learned more
about microbiology than I ever thought I would
know and more about how I should carry myself as
an educator and role model.”
Shumate said he plans to incorporate the theories
of proper lab practice into his courses, and a
collaborative research proposal is already in the
works between Wiley College and Michigan State
University.
Image Information:
Shumate (left) supervises as his students Kenya Dials
(center) and Lucas Williams prepare a virus that infects
bacteria.
43

HIGHLIGHTS
Diabetes and cardiovascular disease are health
conditions facing today’s minority population. ORISE,
with churches and faith-based organizations, is working
to reduce or eliminate this trend through information
and education. Pictured above, Martha (Marti) Szczur
(left), associate deputy director of the National Library
of Medicine’s (NLM) Specialized Information Services
Division, and ORISE’s Rose Foster cut a ceremonial
ribbon to launch ORISE’s Consumer Health Resource
Information Service (CHRIS) program throughout
Tennessee, with a total of 21 houses of worship
participating in the curriculum. CHRIS is a faith-based
initiative designed to support the DHHS’ “Healthy People
2010” goals of increasing quality and years of life and
eliminating health disparities. Developed by ORISE with
funding from NLM, the program is based on the concept
that faith-based organizations can play an effective role
in eliminating or reducing health disparities because of
their unique positions in the community.
We help our customers receive public health information
and training in an interesting and interactive fashion,
such as the simulated learning environment shown
above. ORISE uses the Web to provide cost-effective,
efficient solutions that are national in scope. For the
National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Office of Education and
Special Initiatives, ORISE developed CancerSPACE
(Cancer: Simulated Planned Approach to the
Collaborative Experience), an interactive learning tool
that uses cancer clinics’ spirit of collaboration in sharing
experience and knowledge to increase rates of cancer
screening, especially among underserved populations.
The CancerSPACE tool will enable cancer clinic staff
to contribute ideas that will become new learning
experiences.
While nanotechnology promises to build novel materials
and devices, such as the “nanowire sandwich”
pictured above, there is an increasing need to promote
nanotechnology safety and health. With this in mind, a
new Web site—the Nanotechnology Safety and Health
Repository Web Site at http://orise.orau.gov/ihos/
Nanotechnology/nanotech_home.html—was created
in 2006 for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
community. The Industrial Hygiene/Occupational Safety
Special Interest Group (IH/OS SIG), managed by ORISE,
collects and distributes to the DOE community safety and
health information related to nanotechnology activities.
With input from DOE and other parties, information is
collected and posted on the IH/OS SIG’s newly created
site. The site aims to be user friendly, contains current
information from credible sources, and reflects input
from knowledgeable professionals and potential users.
Photo courtesy of ORNL Center for Nanophase Materials
Sciences.
44

Securing Our
Country against
Terrorism
and National
Emergencies

“In 2006, we have seen our operational assistance and support to
federal and state agencies rapidly expand. This has had an immediate
impact in our supported programs’ overall readiness for weapons of
mass destruction and counterterrorism preparedness.”
National Security and
Emergency Management Program
Andy Page, director of the National Security and Emergency
Management Program
2006 Accomplishments:
Key Customers:
Federal, state, and local
government agencies need
emergency planning and
operational support to
enhance and integrate their
efforts to combat terrorism,
natural disasters, and other
hazards. ORAU experts
provide mission-focused
operational experience in
real-world environments
and demonstrated planning
expertise to support these
agencies with planning,
research, and readiness
activities, which strengthen
their preparedness and
response capabilities.
• Strengthened support to the FBI Critical
Incident Response Group and FBI Laboratory
in both operational support and scientific research
related to the global war on terrorism
• Implemented a regionally based exercise program
to validate response protocols for the DNDO
Key Facts:
• Provide operational support to DOE’s Nuclear
Incident Team for worldwide deployment of
NNSA’s response teams
• Plan, coordinate, and execute a variety of national
and statewide weapons of mass destruction
exercises for such agencies as DOE/NNSA,
California Office of Homeland Security, FBI,
DHS, and Bureau of Reclamation
• Maintain a national asset database that
provides a real-time, common-operating picture of
readiness for NNSA’s emergency response assets
• Track training and readiness events plus
incorporate lessons learned in a comprehensive
database for 13 national laboratories and
11 NNSA emergency response assets
Key Customers:
• U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE)
-National
Nuclear Security
Administration
(NNSA)
• California Office of
Homeland Security
• U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services (DHHS)
-Centers for Disease
Control and
Prevention (CDC)
• U.S. Department of
Justice (DOJ)
-Federal
Bureau of
Investigation (FBI)
Contact Information:
• U.S. Department of
Defense (DOD)
• U.S. Department of
Homeland Security
(DHS)
-Domestic
Nuclear Detection
Office (DNDO)
• U.S. Department of
the Interior (DOI)
-U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation (USBR)
National Security and Emergency
Management Program
(202) 955-3628
national.security@orau.org
www.orau.org/busops/nsem
46

ORISE Helps Strengthen National Security Through Participation
in Emergency Preparedness Exercises
Whether a disaster is caused by natural or manmade
events, an effective response requires planning and a
systematic approach to the evaluation of the nation’s
security and emergency response assets.
In 2006, ORISE worked with the National Nuclear
Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of
Emergency Response (NA-42) to plan, coordinate,
and participate in a series of exercises to enhance the
nation’s emergency preparedness. As a precursor to
the 2007 congressionally mandated, full-scale Top
Officials 4 (T4) exercise, ORISE participated in the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) T4
Command Post Exercise (CPX). ORISE personnel were
among more than 4,000 federal, state, and local senior
officials and private sector managers who took part in
the exercise, intended to strengthen the nation’s ability
to more effectively prevent and respond to a simulated
terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction.
T4 CPX focused on the imaginary city of Landport
and involved a simulated nuclear explosion triggered
by a fictitious terrorist group. Facing the threat of a
similar explosion in Washington, D.C., participants
were evaluated on their ability to make the best
decisions under pressure. In support of the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE), ORISE developed
training materials and provided 24-hour support
throughout the exercise. ORISE also established an offsite
emergency operations center for DOE’s Nuclear
Incident Team—which deploys assets and works with
other federal agencies during a coordinated response—
as well as a simulation cell that allowed NNSA
personnel to evaluate DOE’s response to the detonation
of an improvised nuclear device. In anticipation of the
full-scale T4 field exercise, ORISE is assisting DOE’s
evaluation efforts by identifying opportunities for
improvement and incorporating lessons learned into its
NA-42 Events Tracking System.
“Exercises such as T4 CPX offer a great opportunity
for officials to test the nation’s ability to respond to
radiological incidents and other emergencies,” said
Andy Page, director of ORISE’s National Security
and Emergency Management Program (NSEMP).
“Executing comprehensive exercises is a critical part of
national security and emergency preparedness.”
In addition to T4 CPX, ORISE maintained a lead role
in the NNSA’s Southern Crossing exercise, the California
Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation
Program’s Exercise Golden Guardian 06, and the
Bureau of Reclamation’s Exercise Watchful Sentinel.
ORISE provided planning support for these exercises to
enhance the agencies’ abilities to manage an emergency
response to a natural disaster or terrorist incident.
Image Information:
ORISE assists DOE and DHS in carrying out emergency
preparedness exercises, such as the one pictured here, to help
strengthen the abilities of federal, state, and local agencies to
respond to natural and manmade disasters, including terrorist
attacks involving weapons of mass destruction. Photo courtesy
of the U.S. Department of Defense.
47

HIGHLIGHT
ORISE Supports Department of
Homeland Security with Emergency
Preparedness Policy Development
WeB-MEDIS is a newly revised
triage program developed in 2006
by ORISE to help emergency
responders enter patient information
via a handheld device such as a
Palm ® , a pocket personal computer,
or a data assistant. Firemen from the
Pueblo Fire Department in Pueblo,
Colorado, pictured above, practiced
using the device with more than 130
patients at a mock terrorist/hostage
exercise conducted in June 2006. The
program tracks the status of injured
patients in the event of a terrorist
attack or natural disaster. Through
wireless synchronization, the patient’s
information (vital signs, contamination
information, and transportation status) is
transmitted to a Web site that can
be viewed and filtered by area hospitals,
emergency operations centers, and joint
information centers, alerting them of
patient status prior to arrival.
This year marked the five-year anniversary of 9/11,
and with the images of Hurricane Katrina fresh on
many Americans’ minds, the threat of a catastrophic
event on American soil continues to serve as a
reminder that contingency planning is critical to
strengthening preparedness.
In 2004, DHS issued the National Response Plan
(NRP), a requirement of the Homeland Security
Presidential Directive-5, to provide a single, comprehensive
approach to domestic incident management. By
incorporating best practices from a variety of incident
management disciplines, such as rescue, emergency
management, and emergency medical services, the NRP
supports the nation’s homeland security mission of
preventing terrorist attacks and reducing vulnerability
to all natural and manmade hazards.
Recognized for its national security and emergency
management expertise, ORISE played a critical role
in a series of updates to the NRP, which took effect
in May 2006. To support a mandate by the NRP
to create a standard operating procedure for the
Joint Field Office (JFO)—a temporary federal
facility established locally to provide coordination
of resources in support of state, local, and tribal
authorities—ORISE assumed the role of lead writers
to provide comprehensive guidance for establishing
JFOs to support emergency prevention, preparedness,
response, and recovery. An average of 40 to 50 major
disasters are declared by the federal government every
year and require the establishment of JFOs.
To better prepare for disaster response in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, ORISE personnel,
in support of DHS, also created and released priority
changes to the NRP to incorporate prior to the 2006
hurricane season. Completed and approved in less than
two months, the changes were written at the direction
of and in cooperation with the White House’s
Homeland Security Council. Among the items outlined
were the creation of the Homeland Security Council’s
Domestic Readiness Group, clarification of the roles
and responsibilities of the principal federal official
and federal coordinating officer, and guidance for the
integration of emergency support functions into the
JFO’s incident management structure.
“The importance of developing unified contingency
plans to strengthen preparedness will undoubtedly
better prepare our nation to respond to natural
disasters and emergency situations in the future,” said
Page, director of ORISE’s NSEMP.
Image Information:
ORISE emergency preparedness policy development efforts for
DHS help better prepare the U.S. to respond to disasters, such
as Hurricane Katrina. Photo courtesy of DHS.
48

HIGHLIGHT
PROFILE
Faculty-Student Team Examines
Responsiveness of First Responders
in Catastrophies
In disasters such as category-five hurricanes or
terrorist attacks, why do some police officers fail to
report to duty? Why do other officers always show up?
These are questions that Dr. Terri Adams-
Fuller and her research team—graduate student
Nicole Branch and undergraduate student Leigh
Anderson—explored in their research this summer
at the DHS National Center for the Study of
Preparedness and Catastrophic Event Response at
Johns Hopkins University.
The team was part of the DHS Summer Research
Team Program for Minority-Serving Institutions,
administered by ORISE. They applied for the
nationally competitive program by submitting a
research proposal to study issues related to the role
of public safety officers during crisis events. They
specifically examined the degradation of the New
Orleans Police Department’s duty and command
structure during Hurricane Katrina.
“Most of us are aware that a number of police officers
did not show up for duty during the Hurricane Katrina
crisis and that some actually quit, but what we need to
better understand is why some officers responded to
the call of duty and why others did not respond,” said
Adams-Fuller, a professor at Howard University.
“While we have been preparing as a nation for
catastrophic events, most of the simulation models
presuppose that first responders will respond.
However, first responders are sometimes personally
impacted by such events and do not respond as
expected,” Adams-Fuller explained.
“We need to better understand what we can expect
when those we rely upon in the midst of a disaster
are torn between preservation of self and family and
professional responsibility.”
Image Information:
The faculty-student team of graduate student Branch (left),
Adams-Fuller (center), and undergraduate student Anderson
(right) of Howard University studied the responsiveness of
public safety officers during the Hurricane Katrina crisis.
The research, undertaken at Johns Hopkins University, was
sponsored by DHS.
During the summer of 2006, ORISE
initiated planning efforts for a
14-month series of functional and
full-scale exercises to be conducted
for the DHS Domestic Nuclear
Detection Office’s (DNDO) Northeast
and Southeast regions. With the first
exercise completed in September
of 2006, ORISE will continue to
provide support to DNDO through
a series of tabletop workshops and
functional exercises for its Operations
Coordination Division. The exercises
are designed to test communication
protocols and assessment capabilities
between DNDO and various state and
local response agencies in the event of
terrorism incidents involving radiological
materials. Photo courtesy of Liz Roll/
Federal Emergency Management
Agency.
49

HIGHLIGHTS
To protect the nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure
in the event of a terrorist attack, ORISE worked directly
with the DHS’s Risk Management Division (RMD)
and Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk
Analysis Center (HITRAC) in 2006. Recognized
for its expertise in national security and emergency
management, ORISE provided key personnel to assist
RMD and HITRAC in identifying vulnerabilities and
threats against key infrastructure and resources, such as
food, water, energy, public health, emergency services,
transportation, telecommunications, and the economy.
ORISE was instrumental in the development of RMD’s
Incident Management Plan (expected to be implemented
in early 2007), which provides guidance for DHS
emergency management personnel and first responders
in the event of an emerging or no-notice incident. Photo
courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense.
In support of DHS’s Preparedness Directorate, ORISE
personnel provided primary support in the development
of the Pandemic Influenza Contingency Plan
mandated by President George W. Bush in his National
Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. Assuming the role
of lead writers, ORISE provided expertise in incident
management and preparedness policy development
and coordinated the administrative oversight of several
working groups responsible for pandemic influenza
planning. Completed in November 2006, the DHS
Pandemic Influenza Contingency Plan specifically
addresses domestic incident management, workforce
protection, stakeholder communication, and continuity
of operations. The plan also provides guidance for all
DHS departments in preparation for and in response to a
pandemic event.
Serving as America’s frontline defense in protecting
our country’s livestock from accidentally or deliberately
introduced foreign animal diseases is the Plum Island
Animal Disease Center, located off the northeastern
tip of New York’s Long Island. A facility managed by
DHS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA),
Plum Island is the only center of its kind in the country.
In 2004, ORISE began a research participation program
funded by both agencies, allowing students, postdocs,
and visiting scientists to study these diseases with
Plum Island scientists and veterinarians. Two years
later, the program has grown to more than 20 research
participants. Because a single outbreak of foot-andmouth
disease could drastically affect our nation’s
farm economy and export markets, and ultimately
our country’s food supply, researchers are trying to
understand the immune response, resulting in disease
detection and control methods as well as veterinary
treatments and vaccines. Photo by Stephen Ausmus,
courtesy of USDA.
50

PROFILE
Scholar’s Immunology Research
Contributes to Homeland Security
From Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL),
Erin Steenblock has gathered research experience
at some of the nation’s top laboratories through
the DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program,
administered by ORISE.
Competing against nearly 2,500 other
undergraduate applicants, Steenblock was one of
50 winners of a DHS scholarship in 2003. She
spent the summer of 2003 interning at LANL
and the summer of 2004 at LLNL when her
scholarship was extended.
After graduating from the University of Iowa in
2005 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical and
biochemical engineering, Steenblock won a DHS
fellowship. An off-campus internship at a DHSaffiliated
facility is a required component of the
DHS Fellowship Program. The fellowship was
extended for the 2006-2007 academic year.
Currently a Yale University doctoral student in
biomedical engineering, Steenblock interned in the
summer of 2006 at LLNL and was part of the
Viral Identification and Characterization Initiative
headed by Dr. Bill Colston. The research involved
developing instruments that can detect known and
unknown viruses from environmental or clinical
samples.
Steenblock said her internship enabled her to
gain insight into the myriad ways that science and
technology are used for homeland defense. “I was
surprised by the enormous amount of biological
research that goes into defending our country,”
she said. “Scientists are a big part of homeland
defense, not only in the creation of devices, but in
making decisions on the acceptable use of those
devices.”
When Steenblock interned at LANL in New
Mexico, she was assigned to a team developing a
cell-based biosensor for detecting pathogens.
Image Information:
Steenblock, as an intern at LLNL, prepares solutions in a
protective hood, which provides a clean environment in
which to conduct experiments on DNA. The technology is
important for biodetection of pathogens.
An underlying theme in her research has been the
development of clinical or diagnostic systems
modeled after the way cells or processes function
in the human body or the environment. At Yale, her
research focuses on drug delivery to the immune
system, ultimately seeking ways to stimulate a host’s
response to cancer.
“We hope to develop a cell-free immunotherapy
system that can be easily tailored to a specific
patient’s disease,” Steenblock explained. “This
system also has applications for detection and
screening of a wide range of disease states.”
Originally from Janesville, Wisconsin, Steenblock
encouraged others to apply for the DHS
Scholarship and Fellowship Program, especially
those interested in science and technology as it
relates to homeland defense. She described the
internship experiences of the DHS program
as providing “access to world-class science and
excellent networking opportunities.”
The DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program is
designed to support, stimulate, and tap into the
intellectual capital in academia to address current
and future homeland security challenges, while at
the same time educating and inspiring the next
generation of scientists and engineers dedicated to
improving homeland security.
51

PROFILE
DHS Intern Uses the Iris for
Identification
Almost everyone has seen secret agent movies
where a person’s eyes are scanned for identity
and security clearance. Start taking notes 007,
because Cody Schoener researches that same
technology.
Selected as a DHS Scholar, Schoener interned
this summer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL), one of approximately 25 DHS-affiliated
facilities across the country.
Schoener studied the iris, the colored part of
the eye that controls the pupil, to create a more
efficient means for identification. He helped
create applications for iris recognition and helped
produce a graphical interface for characterizing
iris images at ORNL. As a part of his research,
he also rendered models of the human eye and
studied the relationship between the iris and
pupil dilation.
“The purpose of the research is to promote
a faster, more accurate way of identifying
and matching people to names based on iris
patterns,” Schoener said. “This will make the
United States a safer place to live and provide
the latest technology.”
A biomedical engineering student at Texas
A&M University, Schoener conducted his
DHS research under Dr. Ken Tobin in ORNL’s
Engineering Science and Technology Division.
Schoener said he believes his internship and
others like it will help to support national security.
“Using the latest technology helps us be a step
ahead of the enemy and prevent them from
harming others.”
Although Hollywood has used iris recognition in
many of its movies, Schoener said, “Researchwise,
we are just beginning to make the
technology robust and reliable.”
A native of Texas, Schoener plans to attend
graduate school and continue studying
biomedical engineering.
Of the DHS Scholarship Program itself, Schoener
said, “This program has taught me more about
myself and others in ten weeks than I have
learned in three years.”
Image Information:
Schoener, a DHS scholar and biomedical
engineering student at Texas A&M University,
spent the summer of 2006 trying to prove the
mathematical relationship of the eye—linear
(which is assumed but not proven) or polymetric.
Schoener conducted his research at ORNL, a DHS
Center of Excellence.
52

Elevating Global
Understanding and
Medical Response
to Radiation
Emergencies

Radiation Emergency Medicine
Programs
“With 30 years’ experience training and managing for the
medical response to radiation emergencies worldwide, our
team of radiation medicine physician specialists, nurses,
paramedics, and health physicists help strengthen national
and global preparedness to respond to terrorist threats and
mass exposure incidents involving radiation.”
Albert Wiley, director of Radiation Emergency Medicine
Programs and the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/
Training Site (REAC/TS)
In the event of a nuclear
incident, first responders
as well as hospital and
emergency management
personnel need the
knowledge and training
to quickly manage and
support the medical aspects
of human exposure to
radiation. Through practical,
hands-on training programs
as well as a dedicated,
24/7 deployable team
of physicians, nurses,
and health physicists,
ORAU has increased the
global knowledge base
and training necessary
to provide appropriate
and qualified medical
management of radiological
incidents anywhere in the
world.
2006 Accomplishments:
a
• Provided continuing hands-on medical education
courses for more than 1,000 people at 20 different
locations worldwide
• Conducted 14 on-site, hands-on education
courses at the Radiation Emergency Assistance
Center/Training Site (REAC/TS) headquarters
in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, including instruction on
pre-hospital radiation emergency preparedness,
radiation emergency medicine, and health physics
in radiation emergencies, among others
• Reestablished a cytogenetic biodosimetry
laboratory at REAC/TS, one of only two
federally funded labs of its kind in the country
Key Facts:
• Provide 24/7 response to incidents involving
radiation anywhere in the world
• Serve as one of only two WHO Collaborating
Centers in the United States
• Serve as one of only 13 Collaborating Centers
worldwide that comprise WHO’s Radiation
Emergency Medical Preparedness and Assistance
Network
• Accredited by the Accreditation Council
for Continuing Medical Education to provide
continuing medical education for physicians;
other courses accredited by the American College
of Emergency Physicians and the American
Academy of Health Physics
Key Customers:
• U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE)
-National Nuclear
Security Administration
(NNSA)
-Office of Health,
Safety and Security
• U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services (DHHS)
• World Health
Organization (WHO)
Contact Information:
• National
Aeronautics and
Space Administration
(NASA)
• International Atomic
Energy Agency
(IAEA)
Radiation Emergency Medicine Programs–REAC/TS
(865) 576-3131
reacts@orau.gov
www.orau.org/busops/rem
54

REAC/TS Expands International Presence as Global Trainer for Radiation
Emergency Management and Preparedness
As one of only two World Health Organization
(WHO) Collaborating Centers in the U.S., and one
of only 13 centers worldwide that comprise WHO’s
Radiation Emergency Medical Preparedness and
Assistance Network, ORISE’s Radiation Emergency
Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS) expanded
its international training programs in FY06.
REAC/TS sent a three-man team to Seoul, Korea,
this August for a five-day radiation training course,
instructing approximately 50 people at the Korea
Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences.
REAC/TS Director Albert Wiley, M.D., Ph.D.,
Health Physics Team Leader Steve Sugarman, and
Nurse/Paramedic Rob Beauchamp coached the group
in emergency preparedness and medical response to
radiation incidents. Attendees were primarily medical
responders who work near the area’s 18 nuclear
power plants.
The training course was a result of a nuclear energy
cooperation agreement between the U.S. State
Department and the Korean government. Following
Wiley’s presentations at joint meetings in Washington,
D.C., and at the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, the
Korean government requested the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) and REAC/TS to provide medical
radiological emergency training around Korea’s nuclear
reactor sites. Since the August training course, Korea
has requested another training session to be conducted
in spring 2007. Also, after observing the Seoul training
course, representatives from the Chinese government
requested DOE and REAC/TS to provide a similar
course to be offered in Beijing in January 2007.
In other international activity, REAC/TS personnel
presented a tabletop exercise in conjunction with
WHO’s meeting to mark the 20th anniversary of the
Chernobyl accident. Wiley and Sugarman attended the
three-day conference in Kiev, Ukraine, in April. The
tabletop exercise consisted of a computer-generated
scenario designed to emphasize communications and
compare the standards of different countries when they
respond to a radiation medical emergency.
“The exercise allowed us to see what’s in each other’s
capabilities and radiological emergency plans,”
said Wiley. “Everyone was able to learn from what
each group did best, as well as from where mistakes
were made.”
Other international REAC/TS activities this past year
included deployment to the U.S. Embassy in Caracas,
Venezuela, to assist in the medical management of a
radiological incident and Wiley’s participation in an
International Atomic Energy Agency Radiological
Emergency Response Committee, which met in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, and Milan, Italy.
Image Information:
REAC/TS Nurse/Paramedic Beauchamp coaches a group of
medical professionals in emergency preparedness and medical
response to radiation at the Korea Institute of Radiological and
Medical Sciences in Seoul. Course participants were primarily
medical responders who work near the area’s 18 nuclear
power plants.
55

HIGHLIGHT
National Radiation Emergency
Resource Established with New
Cytogenetics Biodosimetry
Laboratory
When the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) launched
the New Horizons space probe in
January 2006, REAC/TS Director Wiley
and former Director Dr. Bob Ricks
were there as part of DOE’s Advanced
Launch Support Group. Several
months prior to the launch, Wiley and
Health Physics Team Leader Steve
Sugarman had conducted medical
radiation accident preparedness training
for military and emergency personnel
at five local hospitals. New Horizons, a
1,000-pound probe, is on a three-billionmile,
one-way trek, lasting nearly 10
years, to the dwarf planet Pluto. Wiley
says the team is looking forward to
working with NASA again on the launch
of the Mars Space Lab in 2008.
With the first year of funding in place from DOE
and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),
good progress was made throughout 2006 in reestablishing
our nation’s newest radiation emergency
resource at ORISE.
The Cytogenetics Biodosimetry Laboratory (CBL)
will become the second of only two federally funded
facilities in the nation to use cytogenetic biodosimetry
to calculate the radiation dose of individuals exposed
to ionizing radiation. This proven method is the
most accurate way to determine the absorbed dose,
information that is critical for physicians managing
patients’ radiological treatment. With the ever-present
threat of nuclear terrorism, the CBL will strengthen
the nation’s response to a radiation emergency.
The CBL was established under the direction of Dr.
Gordon Livingston, a nationally respected cytogenetics
researcher who joined ORISE as technical director
of the lab in March. Livingston quickly assembled
an international team of experts who convened in
July as the CBL Scientific Advisory Board. The board
members reviewed every detail of the construction,
equipment placement, and blood sample process for
estimating the radiation doses.
Livingston and his team are establishing test cultures
and in vitro calibration curves to quantify patients’
radiation exposure. Key to the overall process is a new
and highly sophisticated Zeiss microscope that can
automatically process as many as 80 slides overnight
unattended. Each slide, which can hold up to 1,500
dividing blood cells, takes only six minutes to process.
According to Livingston, the miscroscope’s software
can create a karyotype table, which allows researchers
to quickly identify chromosome abnormalities. The
frequency of dicentric chromosomes is then compared
to a dose response calibration curve for the type of
radiation that a patient has been exposed to, and
a radiation dose is estimated. “When we’re fully
operational, we estimate a fivefold increase in cells
processed over conventional manual methods,” he said.
ORISE will partner with Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, the CBL advisory board, and other
cytogenetic biodosimetry researchers around the world
to ensure that its new equipment is properly calibrated
and delivering the most accurate results.
Image Information:
The long involved process of manually examining cell after
cell in a microscope to look for chromosome damage has been
vastly expedited with a sophisticated new Zeiss automated
microscope and slide scanning platform now installed at
ORISE’s new Cytogenetics Biodosimetry Laboratory. As many
as 80 slides, each containing from 300 to 1,500 dividing blood
cells, can be automatically scanned and processed overnight
unattended. A single slide takes only six minutes to process.
56

HIGHLIGHT
Cytogenetic Biodosimetry: The Process
Cytogenetic biodosimetry is used to identify
damage to chromosomes in individuals who
have been exposed to harmful amounts of
ionizing radiation. Once the lab receives the
blood cultures, the process involves four stages:
setting up the cultures, harvesting the cultures,
staining to render the chromosomes visible in the
microscope, and then microscopic analysis.
Step 1: During the setup stage (pictured here),
white blood cells are prepared to be cultured
under sterile conditions in an incubator, using
a standard growth medium rich in vitamins,
minerals, and other supplements at 37°C for 48
hours.
Step 2: During harvest, culture tubes are
centrifuged and cells are re-suspended in a weak
salt solution, which allows the chromosomes to
separate and spread evenly on the slides.
Step 3: Because human chromosomes are very
small (2-10 microns in length), it is necessary
to magnify the actual images up to 1,000x in
order to examine their structure. The staining
process renders the chromosomes visible at this
magnification.
Step 4: In the final stage, a cytogeneticist
reviews the chromosome images from the Zeiss
microscope for quality and evidence of structural
alterations indicating radiation damage. The
software can create a karyotype table (pictured
here), which allows researchers to quickly identify
chromosome abnormalities, such as the dicentric
chromosome visible here (second row from top,
second chromosome pair from left). A dicentric
chromosome has two centromeres, the point
where the two
chromatids
touch. Dicentric
chromosomes
occur when a
chromosome
undergoes misrepair
following
DNA strand
breakage caused
by exposure to ionizing radiation. The frequency
of dicentric chromosomes is then compared to a
dose response calibration curve for the type of
radiation that a patient has been exposed to, and a
radiation dose estimate is calculated.
REAC/TS Director Wiley and Health
Physicist Sugarman provided medical
and health physics expertise as part
of an international team deployed to
assist the U.S. Embassy in response to
a radiation incident in the port city
of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. U.S.
Customs employees at the port were
exposed to a radiation scanner missing
the shielding that normally covers
the machine’s radioactive source.
This caused users and bystanders
to potentially become exposed to
gamma radiation. Wiley and Sugarman
supported Embassy operations by
assessing radiological conditions
and by performing medical exams. In
addition, blood samples were ordered
for cytogenetic biodosimetry.
57

PROFILE
Medical Doctor Becomes First
Person in Middle Eastern Country
to Be Trained in Radiation
Emergency Medical Response at
REAC/TS
Before October 2005, if the small country of
Qatar had a radiation accident, local medical staffs
might have struggled to treat the victims—no
one had formally studied the basics of radiation
accident response. But after spending six weeks
at ORISE’s REAC/TS, Dr. Adel Al-Naimi is
prepared to help his country Qatar with such
an event.
Qatar, a 4,400-square-mile peninsula off the coast
of Saudi Arabia, has seen extremely rapid growth
and modernization of its cities over the past 10
years. With the introduction of new technologies,
the government and medical community of Qatar
recognized the need to learn how to diagnose and
treat radiation accident victims.
Al-Naimi, a 35-year-old internal medicine
physician from Hamad General Hospital, was
encouraged to apply for a fellowship through the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Al-
Naimi’s unique training through REAC/TS will
greatly facilitate his ability to assist his country in
appropriately responding to radiological incidents,”
said REAC/TS Director Wiley. Al-Naimi spoke
highly of his experience with REAC/TS: “The
lectures include so many valuable real-life examples
and experiences, and…the drills were so helpful
because they put you under the stress of a situation
and let you practice what you learn.”
Al-Naimi was one of three IAEA fellows to be
trained this year at REAC/TS under the direction
of Associate Director Doran Christensen, D.O. The
two other fellows were from Egypt and Argentina.
“The value of the REAC/TS program for IAEA
fellows is to bring the international radiation
emergency medical response community closer
in preparation for a real radiological or nuclear
incident,” Christensen said.
Al-Naimi has recommended to his country’s health
ministry that it establish a radiation accident
response team to be trained through REAC/TS.
Image Information:
Al-Naimi of Qatar trained in radiation accident response at
REAC/TS headquarters in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, through
a fellowship sponsored by the IAEA.
58

Instilling Public
Confidence in
Environmental
Cleanup

Independent
Environmental Assessment
and Verification Programs
2006 Accomplishments:
“While we remain focused on building public trust in environmental cleanup through
independent verification, we are also helping our customers keep remediation costs
in check by accurately defining the scope of site contamination prior to cleanup
through radiological characterization surveys. In addition, through our comprehensive
radiation sciences training and our expertise in radiological programs assessments
and evaluations, we are ensuring that our customers’ projects benefit from the highest
standards for health physics.”
Eric Abelquist, director of Independent Environmental Assessment
and Verification Programs
Key Customers:
DOE and other federal
agencies spend billions
of dollars cleaning up
radioactively contaminated
sites each year and need
assurances that release
criteria have been met.
The ultimate safety of
these buildings and lands
are of paramount concern
for the public and future
stakeholders of these
properties as well. ORAU is
the nation’s leading provider
of independent verification
surveys of environmental
cleanup, greatly
enhancing public trust
and instilling confidence
in the decontamination
and decommissioning of
contaminated sites.
• Analyzed more than 700 water samples plus soil,
vegetation, and fish samples from 13 U.S. nuclear
power reactors thought to have inadvertently
released tritium into the surrounding groundwater
• Performed independent verification at four
major DOE decontamination and
decommissioning projects at Battelle, Fernald,
Ashtabula, and Mound sites, helping DOE
accomplish their accelerated cleanup goals in Ohio
by the end of 2006
• Focused on providing comprehensive radiological
characterization surveys at Curtis Bay and
Hammond Depots in Maryland, using the most
advanced global positioning satellite technology
Key Facts:
• Provide health physics services in a broad and
diverse array of areas, such as audits of
radiological facilities, dose modeling to support
release criteria, and radiation measurements using
in situ gamma ray spectrometry
• Manage a radiochemistry lab—deemed by the
NRC as its dedicated lab for radiological
analysis—with 98+ percent accuracy
• Teach an average of 25 radiation training courses
per year on a national and international scale,
training more than 300 professionals
• Perform independent verification for DOE
and NRC projects, completing more than 500
U.S. sites since 1981
• U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE)
• U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory
Commission (NRC)
• U.S. Department of
Defense (DOD)
-Defense National
Stockpile Center
(DNSC)
• State Departments of
Radiological Health/
Protection
Contact Information:
Independent Environmental Assessment and
Verification Programs
(865) 576-3740
health.physics@orau.org
ivsurveys@orau.org
www.orau.org/busops/ivhp
60

ORISE’s Independent Evaluation of Groundwater Samples from Nuclear
Power Plants Helps NRC Build Public Trust
When leaking water pipes present a potential hazard,
everyone knows a plumber is the right person to fix
the problem. But what happens when pipes suspected
of inadvertently contaminating nearby groundwater
with radioactive tritium are discovered at a number of
aging nuclear power plants?
That was the issue facing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) in 2006 when nearly a dozen
nuclear power plants found heightened levels of
tritium in on-site groundwater supplies. Tritium, a
radioactive isotope of the element hydrogen, naturally
occurs in the environment in very low concentrations
and is a by-product of electricity-producing nuclear
reactors and weapons plants. To determine whether
dangerous levels of tritium could potentially endanger
drinking water supplies, the NRC called upon ORISE’s
Radiochemistry Laboratory to exclusively carry out a
series of independent radioanalytical evaluations.
Since October 2005, ORISE has analyzed more than
700 groundwater samples from 13 nuclear facilities
scattered mainly throughout the Midwest.
Tritium is most commonly used in biomedical
research as a radioactive tracer and is also produced
commercially in luminescent devices, such as exit signs
in buildings, aircraft dials, gauges, and wristwatches.
People come in contact with small amounts of tritium
on a daily basis as it is present in the atmosphere and
in the food chain. Because this exposure is typically
negligible and falls below the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) guidelines for safe exposure,
it is common for low levels of tritium to make their
way to drinking water supplies via atmospheric and
groundwater movement.
The EPA considers tritium readings of 20,000
picocuries (a unit of radiation) or less per liter safe
for human consumption. During evaluation, however,
ORISE chemists reported readings as much as 10 times
greater than EPA’s limit—enough to gain the attention
of the NRC, public interest groups, politicians, local
residents, and national media.
In 2006, ORISE independently analyzed more than
700 groundwater samples from 13 nuclear power plants
suspected of inadvertently releasing tritium.
“Our lab analyses indicated tritium readings as high
as 200,000 picocuries,” said Dale Condra, ORISE’s
Radiochemistry Laboratory manager. “Though these
readings were only found in groundwater, it is not
surprising that this discovery generated concern that
tritium levels found in samples taken from outside
the plants could potentially endanger local drinking
water supplies.”
Despite tritium’s being considered one of the least
dangerous radionuclides because it emits very weak
radiation, exposure to extreme levels can result in
increased health risks, including cancer. In order to
maintain public safety and confidence, the NRC and
plant officials are using ORISE’s findings to address
ways to prevent future unintentional releases.
61

HIGHLIGHT
Nationwide Network for Tracking
Long-term Climate Changes Is
Expanded
In 2006, ORISE continued support
of decommissioning work at the
Curtis Bay Depot in Maryland and
the Hammond Depot in Indiana for
the Defense National Stockpile Center
(DNSC) of the U.S. Department of
Defense (DOD). Having previously
performed historical site assessments,
scoping and characterization surveys,
and site-specific dose modeling to
determine the extent of contamination
that resulted from stored containers of
thorium nitrate, ORISE will continue to
provide assistance with the preparation
of decontamination and final status
survey plans. The DNSC expects to
begin decontamination of both sites in
2007 and expects the decommissioning
process to be completed in 2009.
Imagine a worldwide network of environmental
monitoring equipment to more effectively pinpoint
when the next major hurricane will hit. What if this
network could also provide data to help scientists
better understand how environmental factors affect
human health or to strengthen the way we protect the
world’s water and energy resources?
The U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN),
a network of climate stations, records real-time
temperature, precipitation, wind speed, and solar
radiation trends across the U.S. Since 2003, the
Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division
(ATDD)—managed by ORISE for the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—
has played an instrumental role in the deployment of
the USCRN. In 2006, ATDD continued the expansion
of the network, adding to the more than 80 stations
installed in various U.S. locations. A NOAA initiative,
the USCRN currently operates in 40 states.
While its primary purpose is to provide consistent,
long-term (50 to 100 years) observations of
temperature and precipitation as a benchmark for
trends in climatology, the USCRN is also playing
an important role in helping the U.S. record climate
changes within the international community. More
than 60 countries, the European Commission, and
more than 40 international organizations have joined
together to develop the Global Earth Observation
System of Systems (GEOSS)—a network of airborne
and surface monitoring equipment. Expected to be
fully implemented by 2014, GEOSS will employ
climate monitoring systems, such as the USCRN, to
better understand the effects of weather on social and
economic outcomes.
“The contributions that the USCRN will make
to GEOSS will have a profound effect on how we
predict the impacts of climate changes in the future,”
said ATDD Interim Director Tilden Meyers. “The
USCRN’s design and operating procedures will be
used by many countries that contribute to GEOSS as
a benchmark for their own systems, so the USCRN
will have an important influence globally on how well
and how frequently data are collected in the most
climatologically sensitive locations on Earth.”
With an unparalleled 99.9 percent reporting accuracy,
the USCRN provides the most accurate and reliable
environmental climate data that the U.S. has ever
collected. As work continues to integrate existing
networks into GEOSS, ATDD will further its
expansion of the USCRN, which is expected to top
120 stations nationwide.
Image Information:
The USCRN includes more than 80 measuring stations
across the U.S., such as this one at the Mauna Loa Slope
Observatory in Hawaii, that use highly accurate and reliable
sensors and gauges to measure temperature, wind speed,
and precipitation.
62

PROFILE
College Football Player Trades
Helmet for Hard Hat to Gain
Valuable Experience with Nuclear
Instrumentation
The commitments of a Division I college football
player can be demanding, not only during
football season but also in the months after the
final down is played. Summer is often a time for
taking a few extra classes or spending time with
family and friends, but don’t tell that to Norfolk,
Virginia, native David Yancey, a senior in nuclear
engineering at The University of Tennessee (UT)
and a running back on the Vols football team.
While many of his teammates enrolled in summer
courses, Yancey gained professional experience with
ORISE by measuring radioactive contamination
through the use of in situ gamma ray spectroscopy
(ISGRS)—a sophisticated technology that
records levels of radioactive contamination during
environmental site surveys.
Yancey, who worked with fellow summer intern
Ben Estes, examined how ISGRS can be used
to pinpoint specific areas of radioactive material
above and below the soil surface. ISGRS essentially
deploys the in situ object counting system (ISOCS)
detector to take readings from a precise area
without collecting background gamma radiation
from heavily contaminated rooms or nearby
sources.
Image Information:
Students Estes (above, standing) and Yancey record field
measurements with the ISOCS at ORISE during their
summer internship. Their work has helped ORISE increase
its capabilities in radiological surveying and health physics.
Photo courtesy of UT.
Yancey’s research involved evaluating the sensitivity
of the ISOCS detector by determining whether
it could “see” a small radioactive particle on the
fringe of its field of view—a process that required
recording measurements at controlled distances
away from the detector.
According to Jeff Chapman, health physicist for
ORISE, “The in situ research is the first step in
determining how small an area can be in order to
define the Derived Concentration Guideline Level
Elevated Measurement Comparison, a detection
technique used when small areas of elevated
radioactivity exist within larger areas.” ORISE
technicians have begun analyzing the data collected
by Yancey and Estes in an effort to increase the
program’s independent environmental assessment
and verification expertise.
Though Yancey lacked the free time that most of
his teammates had over the summer, he said the
most exciting part of the internship was having the
opportunity to work hands-on with health physics
equipment. “The experience enabled me to study
trends of radioactive sources, as well as the limits
and capabilities of radiation detectors,” explained
Yancey. “I look forward to applying what I learned
this summer to future course work.”
63

HIGHLIGHTS
In 2006, ORISE completed verification surveys
to facilitate the closure of the Battelle Columbus
Laboratories Decommissioning Project
at the West Jefferson (North) site in Ohio.
ORISE health physics technicians, including
Dean Herrera (pictured here), performed
measurements of three former process buildings
and support facilities, as well as more than
35 acres of adjacent land as part of the final
release process. Once used for nuclear reactor
and spent fuels research, the West Jefferson
(North) site was contaminated with cesium-
137, uranium, and plutonium isotopes. ORISE,
which received high marks from the cleanup
contractor and the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE), began the project in 2003 and worked
closely with cleanup personnel to verify the site
was properly remediated according to release
standards.
How bad is the air in the Great Smoky
Mountains? That question was the primary topic
of the East Tennessee Ozone Study (ETOS)
Workshop, sponsored by NOAA’s ATDD, a
division managed by ORISE. In the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, trees at frequently
visited attractions, such as Clingman’s Dome
(pictured above), are experiencing the damaging
effects of air pollution. To better understand
where East Tennessee’s ozone originates and
how it is affecting the region’s air quality, a
diverse group of scientists, government officials,
community leaders, and concerned members of
the public participated in a series of discussions,
held on the ORISE campus, aimed to assist
policy makers and citizens’ groups in making
better informed decisions on regulations and
behaviors that impact air quality. Established in
1999, the ETOS program monitors ozone levels
from upper East Tennessee to Chattanooga to
the Great Smoky Mountains to predict when
unhealthy conditions will occur and to track longterm
trends in air quality.
64

Ensuring the
Quality and
Credibility
of Scientific
Information and
Funded Research

Scientific and Technical
Peer Review Programs
“Our goal is to provide independent and objective evaluation of scientific
information by top scientific and technical experts. We meet this goal using
a proven peer review methodology that ensures a highly credible and
independent process for recommending research activities for funding
and support, which in turn helps our customers make informed decisions
on where to invest their research dollars.”
Mike Wetzel, director of Scientific and Technical Peer Review Programs
2006 Accomplishments:
Key Customers:
When the federal
government disseminates
scientific information or
funds research proposals,
it is critical that the
information or the proposals
are scientifically feasible
and have verifiable
technical merit. Through a
customizable peer review
process using external
experts, ORISE is helping
the federal government
make informed decisions
regarding the quality of the
science.
• Assisted key customers with 42 postal and panel
reviews of 2,203 research proposals, asset types,
health risk assessments, or projects involving
1,220 scientific and technical reviewers.
• Awarded $3 million contract to conduct peer
reviews on scientific and technical documents
related to work on DOE’s proposed nuclear waste
and storage repository at Yucca Mountain
• Managed reviews of research proposals with
potential funding of awards totaling more than
$142 million
• Managed review programs for Pennsylvania’s
Department of Health to evaluate the progress of
five ongoing research projects and the outcomes
of 102 completed research projects
Key Facts:
• Provide agency-specific peer review assistance
to coordinate evaluations by independent and
objective reviewers on the technical merit of
research proposals, progress reports, or products
• Manage our PeerNet © system, a Web-based
application that distributes research proposals to
reviewers, collects reviewer comments, and
provides evaluation reports
• Assist with research review activities related to
energy production, environmental protection,
citizen health, and security
• U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE)
• U.S. Department of
Homeland Security
(DHS)
• U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
(EPA)
• Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania
Contact Information
Scientific and Technical
Peer Review Programs
(865) 576-1087
peerreview@orau.org
www.orau.org/busops/peer
66

ORAU Awarded $3 Million Contract to Review Yucca Mountain Work
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of
Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM)
awarded ORAU a $3 million contract in fiscal year
2006 to provide independent peer reviews of scientific
and technical work performed for the proposed nuclear
waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
Located about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas,
Nevada, on land owned by the federal government,
Yucca Mountain is the proposed geological
repository for permanent disposal of spent nuclear
fuel and radioactive waste. DOE plans to submit a
license application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, which decides whether to grant a license
to construct the repository.
“We are excited about this opportunity, which is a
further extension of the capabilities we’ve demonstrated
in peer reviews for many state and federal agencies,
including DOE’s Office of Science, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security,” said Mike Wetzel,
program director for ORAU’s Scientific and Technical
Peer Review Programs. “We have extensive experience
in designing and implementing processes that ensure
independence and support credibility through rigorous
review, and it’s fulfilling to know we can bring this
expertise to bear on national issues such as the
management and storage of nuclear energy waste.”
The decision-making process involves a multiyear
review of procedures, technical documents, and
scientific and technical assessments that have been
conducted for the site. To help ensure that evaluations
are conducted with independence, DOE will identify
the aspects of Yucca Mountain research that it wants
reviewed, and ORAU will line up the appropriate
scientific and technical experts and will coordinate
review teams.
Image Information:
OCRWM is experimenting with new robotic technologies. Here,
a robot rolls across the floor of the Exploratory Studies Facility
(the underground laboratory inside Yucca Mountain). Photo
courtesy of DOE’s OCRWM.
67

ORISE Coordinates Peer Reviews
for Research to Develop Cleaner
Fuels
It takes a lot of corn to produce the four billion
gallons of corn grain ethanol each year that fuel
some of today’s automobiles. Yet, the federal
government wants to increase that number to 11
billion gallons per year, not just from corn but
from a variety of plants.
In order to meet its goal, DOE in collaboration
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
launched an ambitious research agenda in 2006
for developing new technologies that will help
transform plant material into a cleaner burning
alternative to gasoline.
DOE has set a goal of displacing 30 percent of the
2004 U.S. gasoline demand with biofuels, primarily
ethanol, by the year 2030. Corn is just one of the
available feedstocks used to create ethanol.
As DOE’s primary contractor for managing peer
and merit reviews, ORISE arranged for several peer
reviews of the grant applications. DOE is calling
for genomics-based research that will lead to the
improved use of biomass and plant feedstocks
for the production of fuels such as ethanol or
renewable chemical feedstocks.
Up to $3 million was made available by the USDA
and DOE in 2006 for grant awards. Multiyear
funding is expected, and project support is available
for up to three years.
DOE has set a goal of displacing 30 percent of the
2004 U.S. gasoline demand with biofuels, primarily
ethanol, by the year 2030. Biofuels such as ethanol
are made from cellulose—corn, sugar cane,
switchgrass, and the fibrous, woody, and generally
inedible portions of plant matter. Cellulosic
biomass is an attractive energy feedstock because it
is an abundant, domestic, and renewable source that
can be converted to liquid transportation fuels,
according to DOE.
Research is needed to help overcome the
challenges to large-scale production of cellulosic
ethanol, including maximizing biomass feedstock
productivity, developing better processes by which
to break down cellulosic materials into sugars, and
optimizing the fermentation process to convert
sugars to ethanol.
ORISE’s unique PeerNet © database software system
was used to streamline the peer review process
while ensuring integrity and confidentiality of the
grant applications.
Image Information:
Graphic shows how microbes ferment sugars to ethanol,
which is then separated from the mix of ethanol, water,
microbes, and residue and purified through distillation.
Graphic courtesy of Genome Management Information
System, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
68

HIGHLIGHTS
ORISE conducted several peer reviews for EPA in
2006, including a toxicological assessment of the
chemical dibutyl phthalate, which is used to make plastics
soft and flexible and is found in products such as shower
curtains and raincoats. Other reviews included a review
of 1,1,1-trichloroethane, which is used as a solvent, and a
review of ceric oxide, an ingredient used to polish glass.
As a part of the peer review process, ORISE identified
and recruited the technical experts to serve as reviewers
and performed analyses to ensure reviewers had no
conflicts of interest.
Scientists, researchers,
DOE officials, and graduate
students in the genomics
field gathered in Bethesda,
Maryland, in February 2006 to
attend the Joint Genomics:
GTL Contractor-Grantee
Workshop IV and Metabolic
Engineering Working Group
Interagency Conference on
Metabolic Engineering 2006.
The workshop, coordinated
by ORISE and sponsored by
DOE’s Office of Biological
and Environmental Research,
provided an opportunity for the
program investigators to discuss the successes and
challenges of their research. More than 320 people
attended. The Genomics:GTL (GTL) research program
focuses on developing technologies to understand and
use the diverse capabilities of microbes for innovative
solutions to DOE energy and environmental mission
challenges. The genome is an organism’s complete
set of DNA. A strand of DNA, pictured above, contains
a specific sequence, which spells out the exact
instructions required to create a particular organism
with its own unique traits. The ultimate GTL goal is to
generate increasingly accurate mathematical models of
life processes that allow researchers to predict, from an
organism’s genome sequence, its response to varying
environmental conditions.
ORISE is continuing its support of homeland
security research with its collaboration in
the creation of the new U.S. Department of
Homeland Security’s University Affiliate
Centers (UACs). The four designated centers
will conduct research on advanced methods for
information analysis and develop computational
technologies that contribute to securing the
nation. After processing universities’ proposals,
ORISE gathered experts from across the nation
for a peer and merit review panel, which took
place in Washington, D.C., in March. The UACs
were announced in July. Rutgers University, the
University of Southern California, the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the
University of Pittsburgh, and their partners, will
receive a total of $10.2 million from DHS over a
three-year period.
69

Investing in Our Community, Our Region,
and Beyond
As local, regional, and national organizations work
to spur economic development, create more jobs,
take healthcare to new levels of excellence, strengthen
scientific research and technology, and enhance
education, our communities grow and thrive. ORAU
is a beneficiary of these strong communities, and as
such, is committed to partnering with and investing
in the valuable work of these organizations to achieve
mutally shared objectives. Some of the organizations
that ORAU proudly supports include:
The Tennessee Valley Corridor,
Inc., is dedicated to promoting
the Tennessee Valley Corridor
as one of the nation’s premier science and technology centers and
to leveraging the Corridor’s world-class research institutions and
technology assets for maximum regional economic development and
new job creation.
Junior Achievement is the world’s
largest organization dedicated
to inspiring and preparing young
people to succeed in a global
economy. Junior Achievement
provides in-school and afterschool
programs for 7 million
students worldwide.
The mission of the Oak Ridge Chamber
of Commerce is to enhance the
economic vitality of the greater
Oak Ridge area while providing
value to its 700 members.
The Knoxville
Oak Ridge
Innovation Valley represents a 16-county
region in East Tennessee. The East
Tennessee Economic Development
Agency is a regional marketing and
business recruitment organization that
provides site location information and
assistance in this region.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
promotes literacy by providing
one free hardcover, ageappropriate
book to children from
birth to five years of age.
Named Tennessee’s top
hospital in quality performance,
Methodist Medical Center has
provided Oak Ridge and
surrounding communities with the
latest medical advancements for more
than 60 years.
The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation
works to ensure that the Oak Ridge Public Schools
provide the best public education possible and that our
school system sets the standard of excellence in public
education throughout the 21st century and beyond.
ETEC is a regional organization created to support the
federal government’s missions in Oak Ridge and to create
new economic opportunities in the region.
70

ORAU Management
Key Office Contact Information
● Executive Office
(865) 576-3300, April.Hackler@orau.org
● Business Development Office
(865) 576-3301, Tony.Lester@orau.org
● General Counsel’s Office
(865) 576-3054, Ivan.Boatner@orau.org
Dr. Ronald D. Townsend
President and CEO
Ms. Gail H. Singh
Vice President, Chief
Financial Officer
Dr. John C. Nemeth
Vice President,
Partnership Development
Mr. Ivan A. Boatner
General Counsel
● Human Resources Office
(865) 576-3161, Dan.Standley@orau.org
● Partnership Development and Membership Office
(865) 576-1898, John.Nemeth@orau.org
● Science Education Programs
(865) 576-3424, science.education@orau.org
● Occupational Exposure and Worker Health
Programs
(865) 576-3115, occ.health@orau.org
● Professional and Technical Training Programs
Mr. Daniel W. Standley
Corporate Director,
Human Resources
Ms. Monnie E. Champion
Corporate Secretary
Mr. Perry A. (Tony) Lester
Director, Business
Development
Mr. Eric W. Abelquist
Director, Independent
Environmental Assessment
and Verification Programs
Mr. H. Andy Page
Director, National
Security and Emergency
Management Program
(865) 576-3420
health.communication@orau.org
technical.training@orau.org
● National Security and Emergency Management
Program
(202) 955-3628, national.security@orau.org
● Radiation Emergency Medicine Programs
(Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/
Training Site)
(865) 576-3131, reacts@orau.gov
Dr. Donna L. Cragle
Director, Occupational
Exposure and Worker
Health Programs
Mr. Michael L. Wetzel
Director, Scientific and
Technical Peer Review
Programs
Mr. Marcus A. Weseman
Director, Professional and
Technical Training
Programs
Dr. Albert L. Wiley
Director, Radiation
Emergency Medicine
Programs
Dr. Wayne L. Stevenson
Director, Science
Education Programs
● Independent Environmental Assessment and
Verification Programs
(865) 576-3740, health.physics@orau.org
ivsurveys@orau.org
● Scientific and Technical Peer Review Programs
(865) 576-1087, peerreview@orau.org
71

ORAU Board of Directors
Mr. C. Michael Cassidy
President and CEO
Georgia Research Alliance
Dr. Theodore J. Cicero
Vice Chancellor for Research
Washington University
Mr. Philip E. Coyle III
Senior Advisor
Center for Defense Information
Mr. Homer S. Fisher, Jr.
Senior Vice President Emeritus and
Director of Oak Ridge Operations
UT-Battelle, LLC
Dr. John G. Gilligan
Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies
North Carolina State University
Dr. Dennis G. Hall
Associate Provost for Research and Graduate
Education
Vanderbilt University
VAdm. Peter M. Hekman
U.S. Navy (Retired)
Dr. William A. Jesser
Thomas G. Digges Professor of Materials Science
and Engineering
University of Virginia
Dr. Larry F. Lemanski
Vice President for Research
Florida Atlantic University
Dr. Nancy C. Martin
Senior Vice President for Research
University of Louisville
Dr. Robert T. McGrath
Senior Vice President for Research
The Ohio State University
Dr. Eva J. Pell
Senior Vice President for Research and
Dean of the Graduate School
Penn State University
Dr. J. T. Adrian Roberts
Senior Advisor, Laboratory Operations
Battelle
Dr. Juan M. Sanchez
Vice President for Research
University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Colin G. Scanes
Vice President for Research and Economic
Development
Mississippi State University
Dr. James N. Siedow
Vice Provost for Research
Duke University
Dr. Carol K. Sigelman
Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies and
Academic Affairs
Professor of Psychology
George Washington University
Dr. Orlando L. Taylor
Vice Provost for Research and
Dean of the Graduate School
Howard University
Dr. T. H. Lee Williams
Vice President for Research
University of Oklahoma
Dr. Clifton Woods
Associate to the Chancellor
University of Tennessee
72

2006 ORAU Sponsoring Institutions
Alabama A&M University
Auburn University
Arkansas State University *
Berea College *
Carnegie Mellon University
Catholic University of America
Clark Atlanta University
Clemson University
College of Charleston *
College of William and Mary
Desert Research Institute *
Duke University
East Carolina University
East Tennessee State University
Emory University
Fisk University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Institute of Technology
Florida International University
Florida State University
George Mason University
George Washington University
Georgetown University
Georgia State University
Georgia Tech
Howard University
Idaho State University
Imperial College of Science,
Technology and Medicine, London
Indiana University
Jackson State University
Johns Hopkins University
Johnson C. Smith University *
Lincoln Memorial University *
Louisiana State University
Maryville College *
Medical College of Georgia
Meharry Medical College
Michigan State University
Michigan Technological University
Middle Tennessee State University *
Mississippi State University
Morehouse College *
New Mexico State University
North Carolina A&T State
University
North Carolina State University
The Ohio State University
Oklahoma State University
Penn State University
Rice University
Roanoke College *
San Diego State University
Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale
Southern Methodist University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee Technological University
Texas A&M University
Texas Christian University
Tulane University
Tuskegee University
University of Alabama
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences
University of Central Florida
University of Cincinnati
University of Delaware
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Houston
University of Kentucky
University of Louisville
University of Maryland
University of Memphis
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi Medical
Center **
University of Missouri-Columbia **
University of Missouri-Rolla
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Nevada, Reno
University of New Mexico
University of New Orleans
University of North Carolina at
Charlotte
University of North Dakota
University of North Texas
University of Notre Dame
University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma Health
Sciences Center **
University of Pittsburgh
University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico,
Mayaguez **
University of South Alabama
University of South Carolina
University of South Florida
University of Southern Mississippi
University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga **
University of Tennessee, Memphis **
University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Dallas
University of Texas at San Antonio *
University of Tulsa
University of Virginia
Vanderbilt University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia State University *
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest University
Washington University
Wayne State University
West Virginia University
Western Carolina University *
Western Kentucky University
96 Sponsoring (Ph.D.-granting)
*Associate Members (13)
**Branch Campuses (6)