NUCL-ACS

Heino Nitsche has been announced as the recipient of the 2015 Glenn T. Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry, sponsored by the ACS Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology. Sadly, Heino passed away in mid-July 2014. The ACS NUCL division will hold a symposium in his honor at the 2015 Spring ACS National Meeting in Denver, CO. Heino Nitsche was a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley. He was also the leader of the Nuclear Science and Security Constoriums’s Nuclear Chemistry and Radiochemistry focus group, overseeing the cutting edge research in nuclear and radiochemistry of heavy elements, radioisotope science and development, rare isotope harvesting, basic studies of chemical fractionation in fallout formation and nuclear forensics, as well as studies of chemistry of irradiated materials, with a goal to develop and transfer technology useful for nuclear forensics and international safeguards. Heino was a member of the team that confirmed the existence of element 117. The team included several of his former students.

The July 2014 NUCL Newsletter is now available. This quarter’s topics:

• FROM THE CHAIR
• AWARD NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE OF NUCL
• UPCOMING PROGRAMMING
• PACIFICHEM 2015
• SUMMER SCHOOL
• AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION
• MEETING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nominations are now being solicited for the W. Frank Kinard Distinguished Service Award. A letter of nomination should be submitted electronically to Prof. Steve Yates (yates@uky.edu), Chair of the Awards Nomination Committee, before July 1, 2014. The letter is limited to two pages (~ 800 words, 11 point font) and should include the name, institute, and email contact for the nominee and nominator, and a brief narrative of the service role(s) the nominee has held with distinction.

Early registration for RRMC-2014 ends Sunday, August 31. Please see the attached announcement for more registration information and the conference schedule. To register and to find out more about the 60th annual RRMC, visit the website at www.rrmc.co.

Thank you on behalf of the organizing committee members,

2014 Conference Co-Chairs
Tom Rucker and Marty Johnson
Email: chair AT rrmc.co

Workshops
Doug Van Cleef, Craig Maddigan, Julie Higgins
Email: workshops AT rrmc.co

Technical Sessions
John Auxier II, Hiromu Kurosaki, Joe Giaquinto, Terry O’Brien
Email: papers AT rrmc.co

Vendors
Larry Jassin, Tammy Pattison
Email: vendors AT rrmc.co

2014 RRMC Treasurer
Stan Stevens
Email: treasurer AT rrmc.co

Conference First Announcement

The 60th Annual Radiobioassay and Radiochemical Measurements Conference has a prestigious history of providing a scientific forum for professionals to present and discuss their work advancing technologies for detecting, measuring, and analyzing radioactive materials. Since its inception as a meeting place for the advancement of radioassay measurements, the RRMC has grown to include all analytical methodologies for the detection and measurement of radionuclides across a wide spectrum of industries and sample matrices. The objectives of the Conference are as follows:
1. To bring everyone up-to-date on some of the latest developments in the field of radiobioassay and radiochemical measurements;
2. To enable all persons actively engaged in the field of radiobioassay and radiochemical measurements to discuss mutual problems;
3. To standardize some of the procedures commonly used by the various laboratories;
4. To enable each laboratory to become familiar with procedures used elsewhere; and;
5. To plan for future meetings.

Details for conference and hotel registration will follow in a second announcement. Room reservation requests for associated committee meetings will also be solicited in the next announcement. Registration information can also be found on the www.RRMC.co website.

RRMCPreliminaryAnnouncement2014

The San Francisco Undergraduate Program will be exploring the Fall 2014 ACS National Meeting theme: “Chemistry & Global Stewardship” by featuring a panel discussion entitled “Nuclear Energy Stewardship – from Fukushima to Three Mile Island”. The abstract is included below. Interested participants should directly contact Greglynn Gibbs of Penn State University – Berks, gdw104 AT psu.edu

Nuclear Energy Stewardship – from Fukushima to Three Mile Island”
The effects of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster are still prevalent in the news, and the debate over increasing the use of nuclear energy vs. fossil fuels, fracking, green biofuels, and solar/wind energy seems never-ending at time when the debate on energy use is as global as the economy. This leaves much to be considered when debating forms of energy and global stewardship, from economical to environmental, and health impacts – all of which have remained in the forefront on the west coast since Fukushima and are being revisited this 35th Anniversary of the Three Mile Island partial-meltdown on the east coast. Speakers will inform students about nuclear chemistry and research in this area, while also explaining how the concept of “Responsible Environmental Stewardship” can include nuclear energy.

Undergraduate Program Meeting Full Schedule

The April 2014 NUCL Newsletter is now available. This quarter’s topics:

• FROM THE CHAIR
• AWARD NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE OF NUCL
• CORYELL AWARD
• UPCOMING PROGRAMMING
• PACIFICHEM 2015
• TREASURER’S REPORT
• SUMMER SCHOOL
• COUNCILORS’ REPORT
• OBITUARIES
• ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you have undergraduates engaged in research, please remember to nominate them for the Coryell Award this Spring. The Charles D. Coryell Award honors undergraduate students who have completed research projects in nuclear or nuclear-related areas. Each year there is a $1000 prize to be awarded to the successful nominee(s). Contributions are judged on the basis of ingenuity, novelty, and potential usefulness. To be eligible, a student must have been an undergraduate at some time during the 12-month period prior to the deadline date for submission of applications for the award. The student may be sponsored by a faculty member at the home institution or by a research director at another institution where the student performed the work.

The nomination deadline is May 16, 2014. The nomination process consists of an example of the student written work, and a nomination letter that describes the student’s contribution to the project. These items should be emailed directly to the Chair of the award committee (peaslee AT hope.edu).

The NUCL sponsored symposium on Radiation Hardened Materials for Accelerators, Reactors, and Space Exploration, held during the ACS National Meeting in Dallas, TX in March 2014, was featured in the April 14, 2014 issue of Chemical and Engineering News
 
Hunt Continues for Materials That Withstand Radiation Exposure
 
Dr. Ram Devanathan, a research scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, organized the symposium for the division, bringing together leading scientists in the measurement and simulation of radiation damage to materials.

For more information, http://www.wttc15.cz/

Once every three years, ICI offers our international community a rare opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange with colleagues from around the world. The 8th ICI will be a chance to meet, talk, explore, and learn more about all aspects of isotope research, production, and application.  Visit http://www.8ici.org/ for more information.