Thomas H. Pigford (April 21, 1922 – February 27, 2010) was a professor and the founding chairman of the Department of

Nuclear Engineering Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of breaking down atomic nuclei ( fission) or of combining atomic nuclei (fusion), or with the application of other sub-atomic processes based on the principles of n ...

at the University of California, Berkeley. The scope of his career in nuclear engineering consisted of

reactor design A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from n ...

nuclear safety Nuclear safety is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The achievement of proper operating conditions, prevention of accidents or mitigation of accident consequences, resulting in protection of workers, the public and the ...

, fuel cycles, and

radioactive waste management The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, formed by the Energy Act 2004. It evolved from the Coal and Nuclear Liabilities Unit of the Department o ...

. He is credited for having an influential voice in nuclear policy. Pigford was generally well respected by scientists and environmentalists alike because of the expertise he brought to the subject and his objectivity. He was considered a pro-nuclear advocate, but only if done so in a safe way.In Memoriam
Thomas Pigford, nuclear safety proponent, dies
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Early years

Pigford graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

from

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

in 1943. He served in the Navy during World War II, and was later asked to join the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while still completing his doctorate. Pigford helped to establish the Nuclear Engineering Department at MIT.

Marriage and family

Pigford married his first wife Catherine Kennedy Cathey and had two daughters, Cynthia and Julie Pigford. Catherine died in 1992. Two years after the death of his first wife, Pigford married his second wife Elizabeth Hood Weekes in 1994. He had two stepdaughters from his second marriage, Janvrin Deler and Laura Weekes.Thomas Pigford, influential voice in nuclear policy, dies at 87
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Career

As a

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

, he co-authored the book "Nuclear Chemical Engineering" published in 1958 and 1983 which outlined methods that the government used for harvesting plutonium from reactor fuel to be used in bombs. This text was critical because it was considered to be the first in the field. He won the

John Wesley Powell Award The John Wesley Powell Award is a United States Geological Survey (USGS) honor award that recognizes an individual or group, not employed by the U.S. federal government, for noteworthy contributions to the objectives and mission of the USGS. The aw ...

for his contribution to the United States Geological Survey.John Wesley Powell Awardees
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Three Mile Island accident

Pigford was appointed to a commission in 1979 to study the Three Mile Island accident in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The commission reported that certain operators lacked proper training which led them to turning off certain safety systems. With these safety systems off, a simple malfunction turned into a larger problem that destroyed the nuclear core. Pigford was very critical of the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the NRC began operat ...

for their technical errors and the alarmist response. "Every technology imposes a finite degree of risk upon society, both in its routine operation and in the occurrence of accidents. The essential question is the trade-off between the risks and the benefits. The commission neither received any evidence nor reached any conclusions that the risks of nuclear power outweigh its benefits."Deceased--Thomas H. Pigford
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Chernobyl disaster

Seven years after the Three Mile Island incident, a nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, Ukraine exploded and spewed a cloud of radioactive material across Europe. Pigford was appointed by the secretary of energy to a committee for evaluating the safety implementations of a similar reactor in Hanford, Washington. Pigford concluded that the plant, which was being used to make plutonium for nuclear bombs, was less safe than the American commercial nuclear reactors. He rejected safety measures proposed by the department, claiming that they would be no help at all. Immediately after this revelation, the department closed the reactor.Thomas H. Pigford, Nuclear Engineer, Is Dead at 87
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Proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository

Pigford served on the

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

panel in the mid-1990s to help advise the agency on what standards should be put in place for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. The EPA eventually decided that the government should have the power to assume how to use the land in the area in future millenniums. Pigford was critical of the EPA for permitting higher levels of radiation contamination in the water supply for farmers because of their assumption that the land would only be used by

subsistence farmers Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...

, "They end up with such a less stringent result that cannot be defended. That’s bad for the project; it’s bad for the country."

Death

In 2001, Pigford was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and was treated for nine years. He died from complications of the disease on February 27, 2010, at his home in Oakland, California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pigford, Thomas H. 1922 births 2010 deaths People associated with nuclear power Engineers from California University of California, Berkeley faculty People from Oakland, California United States Navy personnel of World War II Georgia Tech alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni