EDUCATION
Georgia Institute of Technology MS Nuclear Engineering (1975)
University of Cincinnati BS Nuclear Engineering (Cum Laude) (1974)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
NASA
2008-present Senior probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) engineer for the Marshall Space Flight Center Safety and Mission Assurance Office. Identify initiating events and subsequent event sequences potentially leading to a loss-of-mission for the man-rated Ares I launch vehicle. Quantify loss-of-mission risk by developing SAPHIRE based functional and phenomenological event tree and fault tree logic models. Risk models are updated as launch vehicle design matures and are used to support integrated design analysis and risk informed decision making.
Department of Defense 1998-2008
Senior operations engineer for the Army's Chemical Material Agency Field Office at the Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Responsible for government oversight of the systems contractor in maintaining the analytically derived safety envelope for operations of the facility. This included performing detailed technical reviews of all safety basis related documents, plant operations standing operating procedures, maintenance standing procedures, engineering change proposals, design change packages, and functional analysis workbooks. Performed surveillances and audits; provided assessments of performance and prepared recommendations. Ensured compliance with all DoD, federal, state, and local safety regulations. Regularly interacted with government customers and the systems contractor.
Additionally, performed hazard evaluations and probabilistic risk assessments (CAFTA) for Army chemical agent disposal facilities. Hazard evaluations included development of preliminary hazards lists during the first stages of facility design, system hazard analysis to identify hazards associated with the equipment to be used during agent destruction, and process hazards analysis to identify hazards during facility startup and operations. Probabilistic risk assessment models were used to assess the public risk associated with munitions handling and transport to the disposal facility as well as the risk associated with disposal processes.
Department of Energy 1990-1998
Nuclear safety engineer
Evaluated hazards and accidents related to waste storage, waste processing, processing of nuclear materials, and transportation, handling, and storage of fissile material. Knowledgeable in accident scenario development and progression as well as determining the frequency of accidents using fault trees or event trees. Estimated material at risk and source terms released to the environment from potential accidents. Developed controls to prevent or mitigate the accidents. Interfaced with project officials to resolve situations where hazards were beyond acceptable levels. Prepared safety analyses and safety authorization basis documents related to accident analyses.
Westinghouse Safety Management Solutions/Westinghouse Savannah River Company. Supported the Accident Analysis group in analyzing various design basis events for the Defense waste Processing Facility and K-Reactor. Developed BIO/SAR write-ups in accordance with DOE 5480.23 and DOE-STD-3009 requirements. Co-developed methodology to quantify the airborne release fraction associated with the pressurized release of PuO2 powder for use in analyzing various postulated accident scenarios. Interfaced with the Preliminary Hazards Analysis, Consequence Analysis, and Technical Safety Requirements groups to ensure accuracy and consistency across functional areas affected by accident analyses.
Los Alamos National Laboratory. Supported the LANL Probabilistic Risk and Hazard Analysis group. Performed preliminary hazards analyses in support of future pit manufacturing upgrades at LANL. Identified process/facility-initiated hazards such as plutonium release from glove boxes, fire, loss of support systems, etc. and determined offsite (mitigated and unmitigated) consequences and potential worker safety issues associated with accident scenarios. Identified safety class and safety significant components required for accident mitigation using methodologies prescribed in DOE Order 5480.23 and DOE-STD-3009.
DOE Oak Ridge Operations Office. Assisted DOE in evaluating the Paducah and Portsmouth safety analysis reports against requirements in the following functional areas: conduct of operations (DOE 5480.19), fire protection (DOE 5480.7A), training (DOE 5480.20A), procedures (DOE 5480.19), human factors (DOE 5480.19), quality assurance (DOE 5700.6C), emergency preparedness (DOE 5500 series), decontamination and decommissioning, and management, organization and institutional safety provisions (configuration management, unreviewed safety questions, performance assessments, and occurrence reporting). Programmatic evaluation results were used as input in developing the safety evaluation report for the Paducah and Portsmouth plants.
Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site. Supported the Emergency Preparedness (EP) Group. Performed chemical and radiological hazard assessments for various site facilities including identification of credible accident scenarios, hazard characterization, source term quantification, and consequence analysis. Based on these results, determined emergency planning zones, action levels and minimum facility protective actions/mitigation features. Documented results in EP hazards assessment and the facility basis for interim operation (BIO).
Commercial Nuclear Power
1975-1990
Nuclear safety engineer (1989-1990) in the Arizona Public Service Company’s Nuclear Safety Group. Conducted performance assessments and oversight of the Palo Verde Plant Review Board, Licensing Department, Nuclear Fuels Department, and Safety System Unavailability Monitoring Program. Prepared and presented monthly reports to management detailing pertinent trends and findings. Independently reviewed Palo Verde Licensee Event Reports (LERs) to identify potentially significant recurring events and implementation of appropriate corrective actions with an emphasis on technical specification violations. Developed performance indicators for use by the Licensing Department in streamlining day-to-day activities. The performance indicators identified target and actual turnover completion times for various licensing department functions (issuance of LERs, responses to NRC inspection reports, etc.). Also, performed an independent review of the annual 10CFR50.59 NRC submittal for completeness and technical adequacy.
Nuclear licensing engineer (1985-1989) providing technical support to the BWR Mark III Hydrogen Control Owner's Group (HCOG) comprised of the Perry, Grand Gulf, Clinton and River Bend nuclear plants. Prepared NRC submittals on various aspects of the design, installation and testing of the hydrogen control system demonstrating compliance with 10CFR50.44 hydrogen control requirements. Using the HEATING code, analyzed equipment thermal response to hydrogen combustion environments inside a Mark III containment. Based on the HEATING results and equipment qualification temperature, developed rationales for equipment survivability during hydrogen combustion co...
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