Nov. 11 — ORNL Talk: “Isotopes: Vital to U.S. Success” — How Isotope Production Strengthens Energy, Medicine and Security

Nov. 11 — ORNL Talk: “Isotopes: Vital to U.S. Success”

The strategic importance of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s leadership in researching, producing and distributing both stable isotopes and radioisotopes will be the focus of a Friends of ORNL lecture at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Speaker: Jeremy T. Busby, Associate Laboratory Director, Isotope Science and Enrichment Directorate (ISED), Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

When & Where: Noon, Tuesday, Nov. 11 at the University of Tennessee Resource Center, 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The talk is free and open to the public. A virtual option is available through the FORNL website.

Refreshments: Light sandwiches, chips, cookies and drinks will be available beginning at 11:15 a.m. for a $10 donation, offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

"Isotopes are strategically important for the United States. They are essential in energy security, medical diagnosis and treatment, discovery science, national security, industrial processes and manufacturing, space exploration and communications, biology, archaeology, quantum science, and other fields." — Jeremy T. Busby

What the talk will cover

• How ORNL produces and distributes stable isotopes and radioisotopes that support medicine, energy, national security, industry and research.
• Advances in isotope enrichment technologies, including centrifuge development and separation processes.
• ORNL’s history and unique infrastructure—reactors, hot cells and specialized facilities—that enable isotope work dating back to World War II.
• The national landscape for isotope production, including the role of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Isotope R&D and Production Office and current supply-chain challenges driven by global events.
• Emerging applications such as improved cancer therapies and power solutions for extreme environments, and potential future directions for isotope technologies and facilities.

About the speaker

As Associate Laboratory Director for ISED, Busby oversees teams of scientists, engineers and technicians who produce unique isotopes, develop enrichment technologies and operate ORNL’s nuclear hot cell facilities. He became ALD for ISED in April 2023 after serving as ALD for the Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate.

Busby joined ORNL in 2004 and has led the Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Division and the Materials Science and Technology Division. His honors include the 2010 Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering for work on high-performance cast stainless steels and mentorship; a 2011 Secretary of Energy Achievement Award for contributions to the DOE response to the Fukushima accident; the American Nuclear Society’s Landis Young Member Achievement Award (2006); and election as an ANS Fellow (2019).

He holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Kansas State University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Virtual access

To view the virtual presentation: visit the FORNL website, click the talk title on the homepage, then select the Zoom link near the top of the talk page. The lecture will be archived and available the following day under the website's "Past Talks" section.