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Contacts: Diane Greenberg, (631) 344-2347 or Mona S. Rowe, (631) 344-5056 Brookhaven Lab’s International Safeguards Project Office Receives Special Service Award from the Institute of Nuclear Materials ManagementJuly 30, 2008 UPTON, NY — The International Safeguards Project Office (ISPO) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory received a Special Service Award from the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM), which cited the 10-member group for “its contributions to international safeguards, especially the technical oversight of the U.S. Support Program to IAEA Safeguards.” The IAEA, or International Atomic Energy Agency, works with its 144 member states — most countries in the world — to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.  The Institute of Nuclear Materials Management awarded the Special Project Award to the International Safeguards Project Office team at Brookhaven Lab, which included: (from left) the late Robert Sinatra, Nereida Santiago, Raymond Diaz, Josh Tackentien, Donna Occiogrosso, Susan Pepper, Al Queirolo, and Michele Rabatin. Other team members (not pictured) are Barbara Hoffheins and Erik Sherr, who work in the Vienna office. (Click on the image to download a high-resolution version.) Susan Pepper, head of ISPO at Brookhaven Lab, and several ISPO staff members accepted the award, a plaque inscribed with the award citation, at the INMM’s 50th anniversary annual awards banquet held in July in Nashville, Tennessee. “This is a tremendous honor for us,” Pepper said. “The work we do could not be accomplished without sustained support from Brookhaven Lab and from the Subgroup on Safeguards Technical Support, which is composed of representatives from the U.S. Departments of State, Energy and Defense, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Together, we are helping to make the world a safer place.” Founded in 1977, ISPO is responsible for the technical and administrative management of the U.S. Support Program to the IAEA Safeguards. The IAEA is located in Vienna, Austria. Specifically, ISPO helps to verify compliance with the nonproliferation treaty and safeguards agreements between the IAEA and its member states. “We are essentially a technology transfer program,” Pepper said. “We work with most of the national labs and with private industry to provide nuclear safeguards technologies, such as radiation detectors, seals, information systems, and training to IAEA inspectors. Without our program this technology would not be available to the IAEA.” Among its significant accomplishments, ISPO started an internship program in 2002 to encourage young people to pursue careers in nuclear safeguards work. So far, 50 people have taken one-year internships in the Vienna office, and two of the interns have been hired by ISPO at Brookhaven. One of the training courses that is funded under the U.S. Support Program and managed by ISPO is complementary access training, which enables safeguards inspectors to practice their skills and questioning techniques for identifying undeclared facilities and activities. This course was delivered for the third time to IAEA students in June. Related Links
Number: 08-809 | BNL Media & Communications Office |
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