Dr. Reid Peterson has worked largely in the field of waste processing for treatment of high-level waste. Dr. Peterson has an extensive background in managing large research programs and experience in taking projects from inception to pilot-scale proof of concept. Through his experiences at PNNL, the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Dr. Peterson has developed working relationships with key staff across the National Lab complex, including Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and SRNL, as well as the site contractors for waste processing at both the Savannah River Site and Hanford. Dr. Peterson leads research teams in the areas of separation processes for nuclear applications. Current focus areas include dissolution reaction, cesium removal technologies, and solid/liquid separation techniques.  

Dr. Kevin Rosso is a Laboratory Fellow and the Associate Director for the Chemical and Material Science Division, Geochemistry Group. Dr. Rosso joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 1998 and is recognized for his work to creatively address long-standing problems in mineral surface chemistry related to reactivity and electron exchange at the mineral-water interface. Dr. Rosso's current projects include the following: (1) characterizing the kinetics and mechanisms of elementary charge and ion transport processes in redox transformation of iron oxide minerals, (2) predicting molecular-scale electron transfer kinetics in microbially-mediated reduction of bioavailable iron in subsurface environments, (3) studying mechanisms of heterogeneous reduction of contaminant U(VI) and Tc(VII) by Fe(II)-bearing minerals, (4) simulation of coupled charge and ion transport in transition metal oxide electrodes for advanced materials applications, (5) probing mechanisms and kinetics of mineral transformation to metal carbonates for geological carbon sequestration, and (6) studying mechanisms of uptake and retention of uranium in sediments.

Dr. Edgar C. Buck is currently the Principal Investigator of LDRD Project An In-situ Investigation of gamma-AlOOH Dissolution under High pH Conditions for the Nuclear Process Science Initiative. Additionally, he serves as a Program Manager for the Used Fuel Disposition Project at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory looking at radiolysis effects on spent nuclear fuel. Dr. Buck co-authored a special issue in the MRS Bulletin on actinide spectroscopy and the Chapter on Uranium for the 3rd edition of the Chemistry of the Actinide and Transactinide Elements. He has held other scientific leadership roles over time, including the DARPA projects, nuclear forensics, colloidal migration studies, and the PNNL metal waste form project. Dr. Buck is knowledgeable in the interaction of electron beams with matter, electron and x-ray instrumentation, and materials science with an emphasis on radioactive materials. He has expertise in the long-term behavior of nuclear materials; including oxide spent nuclear fuels, borosilicate glass and ceramic waste forms, radio-colloids, and materials for tritium production. He has also conducted data interpretation for the Hanford Waste Treatment Project intermittently for more than 8 years and worked for the Tritium Readiness Program conducting Post-Irradiation Analysis of target components for more than 7 years.

Dr. Daniel Richard is the Nuclear Process Science Initaive Principal Investigator of LDRD Project Particle-Filter Surface Interactions and Dynamics in the Presence of Cross-Flow. He has worked as a Research Scientist for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory since 2005 and currently serves the Fluid and Computational Engineering Group. Dr. Richard holds a B.S. in chemical engineering Florida Institute of Technology and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

Dr. Dallas Reilly serves as the Nuclear Process Science Initiative Principal Investigator for LDRD Project Monitoring Diffusion of Actinide Daughters and Granddaughters in Metals for Chronometer Applications. While working for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Dr. Reilly has been involved with multiple projects, including work directly funded by NTNFC and other scope meaningful for the development of technical skills necessary for nuclear forensics. Dr. Reilly participated in the Development of Predictive Signatures project by evaluating and summarizing the previous modeling efforts and has worked to help develop the database of thermodynamic constants and Pitzer parameters necessary to operate the database. He holds a B.A. in chemistry from Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), a Ph.D. in Radiochemistry from the University of Nevada, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Radiochemical Analysis Group at PNNL. 

Dr. Ram Devanathan is currently the Nuclear Process Science Initiative Principal Investigator of LDRD Project Ion Implantation and Characterization of Epsilon Metal Phase Formation in Ceria. Additionally serves as the Technical Group Manager for the Reactor Materials and Mechanical Design group. He has more than 25 years of experience in materials research using multiscale computer simulations integrated with materials characterization. Dr. Devanathan serves as Adjunct Research Professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University. He has mentored postdoctoral researchers, and graduate, undergraduate, and high school students through programs such as Young Women in Science, Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI), and the Mickey Leland Fellowship. Dr. Devanathan was selected as a Chair of the 2015 Fall Meeting of the Materials Research Society. He is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and Chair Elect of the Richland Section of the American Chemical Society.

Dr. Sebastien Kerisit is the Nuclear Process Science Initiative Principal Investigator of the LDRD Project Fundamental Insights into Gamma-Radiation Effects at Complex Oxide-Water Interfaces from First Principles Simulations. Dr. Kerisit holds a master's degree in chemistry and a Ph.D. in computational chemistry from the University of Bath, U.K. He is an expert in the development and application of atomistic/molecular simulations techniques and has extensive experience with molecular dynamics, kinetic Monte Carlo, and electronic structure simulations, including rare-event techniques. Dr. Kerisit has developed molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo computer codes including programs to simulate glass corrosion in aqueous conditions and charge transport in crystalline solids.

Barbara Beller serves as the Nuclear Process Science Initiative’s Project Coordinator, a role she has held since November 2016. Ms. Beller works closely with the NPSI Lead, performing a wide range of administrative and planning functions to help advance initiative objectives. She also extends this support to the initiative’s leadership team and research staff. Her previous experience at PNNL includes more than six years in the Business Systems Directorate, where she provided expertise to a contracts group, business offices and several departments, and delivered dependable, timely, quality service through reports, analysis, training and advice. Ms. Beller holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a major in Accounting, from Washington State University.