Joseph Mallam Hendrie (born March 18, 1925) is a former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). On August 9, 1977 he was named to a four-year term on the Commission and designated as its chairman by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

.Dr. Joseph M. Hendrie, Chairman Profile
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, August 1977 (Page Last Reviewed/Updated Thursday, March 29, 2012). Accessed February 28, 2010. From 1975 to 1977, Hendrie had served as chairman of the Department of Applied Science at

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base and Japanese internment c ...

. Hendrie was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

in 1976 for contributions to both physics and engineering of research reactors and to the safety of large power reactors.

Education and early career

Hendrie received a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree in

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

from

Case Institute of Technology Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location i ...

in 1950. He received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in physics from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1957. He worked at Brookhaven from 1955 to 1977.

Three Mile Island accident

On March 28, 1979, the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, along the Susquehanna River located south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, suffered a partial meltdown. Although the meltdown was contained and radiation leakages were minimal, there were still worries that an evacuation would be necessary. Immediately following the accident, Hendrie advised

Pennsylvania Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the head of state and head of government of the U.S. state, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as commander-in-chief of the Commonwealth's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforc ...

Dick Thornburgh to order the evacuation "of pregnant women and pre-school age children ... within a five-mile radius of the Three Mile Island facility." Within days, 140,000 people had left the

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an ope ...

Fukushima reactors and accident

In the period when the GE Mark 1 commercial nuclear reactor designs were being installed and started up by Tokyo Electric Power Company at

Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

, Japan, Hendrie addressed the design. "In 1972, Atomic Energy Commission safety official Stephen Hanauer recommended that the Mark I design be discontinued, arguing that the small containment design left it vulnerable to explosions from hydrogen buildup. At the time, soon-to-be-chairman of the RC ...Hendrie said acceptance of the Mark I technology was so widespread that 'reversal of this hallowed policy, particularly at this time, could well be the end of nuclear power'." In the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, Fukushima reactors saw several hydrogen explosions, amongst other breakdowns.

Later career

Hendrie served as president of the

American Nuclear Society The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is an international, not-for-profit organization of scientists, engineers, and industry professionals that promote the field of nuclear engineering and related disciplines. ANS is composed of three communities: ...

1984-85.Presidents
American Nuclear Society webpage. Retrieved 2012-08-09.

References

Publication

*Hendrie, Joseph M.
''The future course of nuclear-power regulation''
1982. Pdf from

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

External links

Dr. Joseph M. Hendrie, Chairman
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Official site) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrie, Joseph Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials Living people Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Case Western Reserve University alumni 1925 births