Isotopes: Vital to U.S. Success

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

Abstract
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. ORNL meets critical national needs by producing and distributing both stable isotopes and radioisotopes, as well as advancing isotope enrichment technologies.

ORNL has been a world leader in isotope enrichment, generation, and separation technologies and processes since World War II. Today, ORNL experts continue in this mission using the lab’s unique infrastructure (hot cells and reactors) and modern tools. ORNL staff is also looking ahead to developing new isotope applications for effectively treating cancer and improving power systems for extreme environments.

In this presentation, I will discuss the national landscape for isotope production, including the important role of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Isotope R&D and Production Office; the state of the U.S. supply chain for isotopes; and the ways the United States and ORNL are reacting to world events that have altered isotope availability. I also will detail the history, capabilities, and current directions for isotopes research and production at ORNL, in addition to potential future states for technologies and facilities.

Biographical Sketch
Dr. Jeremy Busby is the Associate Laboratory Director (ALD) for ISED at ORNL. He oversees the directorate’s scientists, engineers, technicians, and other talented experts charged with producing unique isotopes for various uses, developing enrichment technology, and operating ORNL’s unique nuclear hot cell facilities.

Prior to becoming ALD for ISED in April 2023, he was ALD for the Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate. Dr. Busby, who joined ORNL in 2004, has served in several leadership roles at the laboratory. He has been director of the Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Division, as well as the director of the Materials Science and Technology Division.

In 2010, Dr. Busby received the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering “for excellence in research leading to the development of high-performance cast stainless steels, a critical part of the U.S. contributions to the ITER project, and for his mentoring of students both as an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Michigan and at ORNL.”

In 2011, he was awarded a Secretary of Energy Achievement Award for contributions to DOE’s response to the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. The American Nuclear Society presented him with the Landis Young Member Achievement Award in 2006 and named him as a Fellow of ANS in 2019.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from Kansas State University and master’s and doctoral degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan.