Dr. Kenneth L. Peddicord, director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), was recently appointed to the Texas Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission by Gov. Rick Perry. The commission, which was created pursuant to Senate Bill 1206 in the 73rd Legislator, will provide for the management and disposal of low level radioactive waste, while maintaining the priority of health, safety and welfare of citizens. Peddicord will serve on the commission through November 2014. The use of radioactive materials has a huge economic impact on our state and ranges from health care to energy production to research, Peddicord said. Safe and environmentally sound management of these materials is imperative. I look forward to being part of the commission and carrying out this mission for Texas." In addition to serving as director of TEES, Peddicord is the senior associate dean for research and is a professor in the Dwight Look College of Engineering’s Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University. He also serves as the director of the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) which is headquartered at Texas A&M. NPI is a statewide partnership of four-year universities, two-year technical and community colleges, the nuclear power industry, state agencies and local organizations working together to respond to the challenge of providing a trained workforce to operate new reactors being planned for Texas. Peddicord is also a consultant for Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is a member of the American Nuclear Society for Engineering Education, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Society for Engineering Education. Peddicord received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s and doctorate degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Illinois. Perry also appointed Michael Ford of Amarillo as chair of the board and John White of Plano as the vice chair. Ford received a bachelor’s degree in health physics from Texas A&M’s Department of Nuclear Engineering.
