Skip to main content Skip to navigation
U.S. Transuranium and Uranium Registries Advisory Committee

Guidance from the SAC

2016 Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting

 

Each year, the SAC provides feedback for the USTUR’s faculty and staff. This feedback comes in the form of general comments on the work that the USTUR is conducting, and recommendations as to what the USTUR should focus on in the coming year.

Comments

  1. There has been good progress on populating the databases.
  2. The special session at the HPS annual meeting was excellent, and along with the booth greatly improved the visibility of the program.
  3. The Ph.D. student in toxicology is an excellent example of collaboration with the College of Pharmacy.
  4. USTUR recognition of donors is a welcome cultural shift.
  5. A shift in emphasis from data collection to research is taking hold.

Recommendations

  1. Promote the value of USTUR for research:
    • Consider possible current and future uses of data (hypotheses to be tested.)
    • Further research is likely to be collaborative; identify target organizations for outreach, e.g. Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Center for Radiation Protection Knowledge. Set a goal for external funding, e.g., $50,000.
    • Demonstrate the value of the program to the College of Pharmacy (student participation, teaching, etc.)
  2. Ph.D. staff should be classified as research associate professors; continue to build staff credentials (certification, professional society participation, publications, etc.)
  3. Formally document research goals and objectives and produce a modified set of data quality objectives to support research goals, as well as future missions and funding opportunities.
  4. Demonstrate the value of the program to current & future DOE needs:
    • Improving the wound model (currently animal data only)
    • Beryllium and chemical cases, synergistic response with radiation
    • Former worker program
    • Pu-238 production workers
    • Refractory Pu compounds
    • Np cases exposed in gaseous diffusion plant decontamination and decommissioning (D&D)
  5. Offer practica for research students, continue practica for nursing students.
  6. Consider outreach to scientific collaborators outside traditional radiation-related disciplines, such as toxicology, biokinetics, cellular biology, etc.
  7. Consider outreach to workers, union representatives, etc.