Decoding Radioactive Decay: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and More

Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar is the associate dean of the Idaho State University (ISU) College of Science and Engineering, associate professor of nuclear engineering and a senior reactor operator at ISU’s Aerojet-General Nucleonics nuclear reactor, commonly known as the AGN-201. Presently, she coordinates the nuclear engineering curriculum at ISU and teaches core graduate and undergraduate courses. She also performs nuclear materials research and is involved in regional and discipline accreditations, ISU’s international program development, and reactor administration.

Mary Lou has published internationally and is recognized as principal investigator of productive research projects incorporating nuclear material irradiation and characterization and the associated management of radioactive material.

She has collaborated on a variety of projects and proposals in university, national laboratory, and international research environments. This includes her work as a joint appointee scientist at Idaho National Laboratory where she led the Simulation Institute for Nuclear Enterprise Modeling and Analysis fuel-cycle modeling project. She also worked at Argonne National Lab with various duties associated with pyroprocessing spent fuel and was also a high school science and math teacher in the U.S. and U.K.

Mary Lou has a B.S. in chemistry from Cedar Crest College and received an M.S. in environmental engineering along with her Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests include the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear fuels and materials development, spent fuel processing, and waste form development.

An ANS member since 1992, Mary Lou was on the ANS Board of Directors from 1996-1999. She is a member of the Accreditation Policy & Procedures Committee; Development Committee; Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Division; Education, Training and Workforce Development Division; the Special Committee on Government Relations; and is the faculty advisor for the ANS Idaho State University Student Section. She is an active member of the Idaho ANS Local Section and has served on numerous organizing committees for local and national meetings.

In 2011 and 2014, she was the recipient of ANS Presidential Citations in addition to the Landis Public Communication and Education Award in 2014.

Eric Loewen is the Chief Engineer and Manager of the Chief Engineer’s Office at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, where he is responsible for leading the office in supporting new product and technology development, managing technical and enterprise risk, and mentoring and developing technical talent.

Eric graduated from Western State College with a B.A. in chemistry and mathematics, earned a commission in the U.S. Navy, and subsequently attended Navy Nuclear Power School and the Nuclear Prototype. After his active Navy service, he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Eric worked in private industry prior to joining Idaho National Laboratory (INL) as a systems integration manager and interim department manager. Currently, he is chief consulting engineer at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) in Wilmington, N.C., where he leads GEH activities to deploy the sodium-cooled advanced reactor PRISM that can recycle used nuclear fuel from the current fleet of water-cooled reactors, as well as fission and eliminate weapons-grade material.

His U.S. Navy leadership roles included: Naval Prototype Nuclear Reactor School Instructor; B-2 Division Officer, Nuclear Quality Officer, Engineering Officer of the Watch, Surface Warfare Officer of the Deck aboard the USS LONG BEACH (CGN-9); and Commanding Officer of two Naval Reserve maintenance support units.

During his career, Eric received many honors and awards including Molten Metal, Inc. Technology Star Award (1995); ANS Public Communication Award (2003); DOE Outstanding Mentor Award (2003); GEH CEO Award (2012).