Richard grew up in Illinois where he obtained a Bachelor's degree with a double major (Physics and Mathematics) from Western Illinois University...
Idaho Cleanup Project Citizens Advisory Board
January 15, 2021
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Richard grew up in Illinois where he obtained a Bachelor's degree with a double major (Physics and Mathematics) from Western Illinois University. Encouraged by professors to obtain an advanced degree, or seek work at the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS) in Idaho, he decided to work on a Master's degree at Utah State University and then seek work at the testing station. While at Utah State, he received an offer to work at the NRTS while completing his Master's degree through a program they had with the University of Idaho. His original intent was to work in Idaho for three years and then return to Illinois to work at the Argonne East facility. After three years, however, Richard had fallen in love with the West and decided to stay. He retired from the Idaho National Laboratory after working there for 45 years.
For approximately half of those 45 years, Richard worked in a Detector Development Group. This Group was responsible for the design and development of instrumentation to measure conditions within nuclear reactors during safety tests. These tests were conducted up to and including destruction of the reactors. Parameters measured included such things as temperatures, pressures, motion, strain, flow, etc. Conditions within the reactors often exceeded 3,000 degrees F in 600 psi water. Response times for detection of these events were in the millisecond range.
At this point in his career, Richard was asked to organize and manage a new program for the INL called the Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) Program. While planning and executing the actual D&D of many of the INL's 52 reactor facilities, he was also responsible for the development and testing of new technologies to make D&D work both safer and less expensive. While managing the INL D&D Program, Richard also assisted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in writing technical reports and in assisting other countries in planning and executing their D&D work. He was Chairman of an American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) subgroup on decommissioning for many years, a member of a US-UK D&D Information Exchange Team, as well as a frequent participant in national and international D&D conferences.
Richard and his wife, Gayleen, have three children and 13 grandchildren. He enjoys woodworking, gardening, and many outdoor activities. He is fond of saying, "I have shot a moose that made the Boone and Crockett Club All-Time Record Book, bred a Labrador Retriever puppy that became a National Amateur Retriever Field Champion, and have a son who played football for BYU and the Buffalo Bills, I can relax now."
Richard looks forward to serving on the CAB as a way of continuing to use the experience he gained while working at the INL and to stay current on the cleanup activities there. He also hopes to share the safe and effective way this work is being done with his community.
Dick Meservey
After 45 years at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Mr. Meservey retired in 2008 as a program manager with Battelle Energy Alliance, which manages the laboratory for the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy. He has extensive experience in nuclear reactor testing, waste management, and decontamination and decommissioning (D&D). He organized and managed the INL D&D program for 15 years prior to his retirement. Mr. Meservey was an affiliate faculty member in the Engineering Department at Idaho State University. He has a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Western Illinois University and a Master of Science in Physics from the University of Idaho. He is a former member of the American Nuclear Society and a United States-United Kingdom Technical Information Exchange Team on decommissioning of nuclear facilities. He is also the long-time chairman of the American Society for Testing and Materials Committee E-10.03 on D&D. Mr. Meservey is interested in environmental and worker and public safety issues. He resides in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
