Last updated on: 6/7/2012 | Author: ProCon.org

Nolan E. Hertel, PhD Biography

Title:
Professor of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology
Position:
Con to the question "Can Alternative Energy Effectively Replace Fossil Fuels?"
Reasoning:

“[R]enewable energy sources are essentially a cottage industry. They can help provide some of the clean energy that’s needed, but their role is severely limited by the vast amounts of land that they require for large-scale deployment, and their lack of reliability.

Solar and wind account for only 2 percent of the nation’s electricity. Their roles should increase — but as they grow, we will have to build conventional power plants to back them up.”

“Hitch Our Future to Nuclear Power,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Nov. 19, 2004
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Professor of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1993-present
  • Member, Los Alamos Neutron Science Center Nuclear Science Program Advisory Committee, 2006-present
  • Member, Board of Directors, Health Physics Society, 2006-present
  • Chairman, US Department of Energy Scientific Review Group of the Russian Health Studies Program, 2005-present
  • Member, International Commission of Radiological Protection Committee, 2002-present
  • Project Manager, US Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Research Initiative
  • Coordinator, Georgia Institute of Technology Focused Research Program on Pioneer Research in Nuclear Detection
  • Faculty Affiliate, Sam Nunn Security Program, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • 1st Vice-President, Council on Ionizing Radiation Measurements and Standards, 2007-2008
  • General Chair, 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding, 2007-2008
  • Recipient, Technical Acheivement Award, American Nuclear Society, 2006
  • Recipient, Nuclear Engineering Division Glenn Murphy Award, American Society for Engineering Education, 2004
  • Recipient, Certificate of Appreciation, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2001
  • Former Assistant and Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin
Education:
  • PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1979
  • MS, Texas A&M University, 1975
  • BS, Texas A&M University, 1973
Other:
  • None found
Quoted in:
  1. Is Nuclear Power Cost-Effective?