Senior Nondestructive Assay Scientist
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Robert Bean completed his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering at Purdue University in 2003, where he had been teaching nuclear engineering and overseeing the PUR-1 research reactor. Upon graduation he became the material control and accountability group’s measurements lead for the Idaho National Laboratory. Then he shifted into safeguards research, working on Safeguards-by-Design, nuclear facility design projects, and aqueous and pyrochemical fuel processing safeguards. He then spent a 3-year tour as a technical advisor to the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration supporting safeguards and radiation detection research and development. He returned to Purdue in 2013 as faculty and completed the license renewal and power uprate applications for the PUR-1 reactor and relicensed PUR-1 with the first all-digital reactor safety and reactor control suite under U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations. In 2021, Dr. Bean joined the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, returning to his favorite topic, nondestructive assay for nuclear safeguards.