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{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Clarice Phelps
| name = Clarice Phelps

Revision as of 19:42, 3 April 2019

Clarice Phelps
Alma materTennessee State University
Scientific career
InstitutionsOak Ridge National Laboratory
University of Texas at Austin
United States Navy

Clarice E. Phelps (née Salone) is an American nuclear chemist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and formerly a US Navy Officer in the Navy Nuclear Power Program. She was part of the team that discovered Element 117, tennessine. At the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Phelps works as a project manager for industrial use isotopes. She investigates the processing of radioactive transuranic elements, such as plutonium-238 used to fuel NASA's deep space exploration missions, and californium-252 used in fission fragment studies.

Early life and education

Phelps‘s interest in science began as a child when her mother gave her a microscope set and encyclopaedia based science kit, and was nurtured by her secondary school science teachers.[1][2] She is an alumna of the Tennessee Aquatic Project and Development Group (TAP), a nonprofit youth organisation for at-risk youth.[3] Phelps earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Tennessee State University in 2003.[1][4] She is completing a master's degree by distance learning University of Texas at Austin.[5]

Career

US Navy

After graduating from Tennessee State University, Phelps joined the United States Navy, where she served as a non-commissioned officer in the Nuclear Power Program.[1][6] The Nuclear Power Program operates and maintains the nuclear reactors that power the Navy's submarines and aircraft carriers.[7][8] Phelps has said she joined because she was drawn to "the mystery" of nuclear science, "partly out of fascination and partly to dispel some of the fears others had towards the field. While in the Navy, Phelps studied nuclear power, reactor theory, and thermodynamics. She completed the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. She was trained in radiation control (radcon) and chemistry controls.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

In 2009, Phelps joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory.[9] The Oak Ridge National Laboratory was established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project and is the largest science and energy laboratory in the US Department of Energy, with an annual budget of $1.4 billion.[10] At Oak Ridge, Phelps works in the Nuclear Security and Isotope Technology Division of the Nuclear Science and Engineering Directorate as the project manager for the nickel-63 and selenium-75 industrial isotope programs.[1][9][10] Nickel-63 is used by the Transportation Security Administration to monitor for explosives, and selenium-75 is used in gamma radiography. In addition to being a project manager, she is a member of the research and development staff in Oak Ridge's Nuclear Materials Processing Group, where she works with "super heavy" transuranic isotopes that are produced mainly by nuclear transmutation.[9] She is also a member of the Medical, Industrial and Research Isotopes Group, where her research focuses on separation and analysis of elements such as actinium, lanthanum, europium, and samarium.[9]

In 2010, Phelps was the first African-American woman to be part of the team that discovered a superheavy element.[11] Phelps was involved in the discovery of the second-heaviest known element, tennessine (Element 117), serving as part of the team that purified berkelium used to confirm the discovery of tennessine.[1][12][11][13] Phelps was part of a three month long production of 22 mg of Berkelium-249.[14] Berkelium-249 was produced through intense neutron irradiation of curium using Oak Ridge's High Flux Isotope Reactor, then shipped to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia and combined with calcium-48 in a fusion reaction to create tennessine.[15] Over 50 staff members from Oak Ridge contributed to the production and purification of the berkelium used in the experiment.[16]

Phelps continues to contribute to other important research efforts, including spectroscopic analysis and spectrophotometric valence state studies of plutonium-238 and neptunium-237 and 238 for the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA).[17] The plutonium-238 produced at Oak Ridge starting in 2015 was the nation's first in over 25 years, and will be used to fuel NASA's deep space exploration missions. Phelps has also studied electrodeposition with californium-252 for the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade project (CARIBU).[1] Oak Ridge is the only US producer of californium-252 (used in cancer treatments and other applications) and produces over 70% of the world's supply.[18]

In October 2018 Phelps was part of the 75 year celebrations for Oak Ridge National Laboratory.[19] In 2019 she was part of the ORNL celebration for International Women's Day.[20]

Memberships and awards

In 2017, Phelps won the YWCA Knoxville Tribute to Women Technology, Research, and Innovation Award, which recognises "local women who lead their fields in technology and excel in community service".[21][22] She was featured on the Oak Ridge Associated Universities STEM stories program, partnering with nearby schools in Tennessee.[23] Phelps is a member of the American Chemical Society and serves on Oak Ridge's Educational Outreach Committee as its diversity chair for Knox County Schools.[1][6][24]

Phelps helped establish a program to teach robotics, drones, circuitry, and coding to inner city high school students in Knoxville, TN through the ASCEND program of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority's graduate chapter, among other STEM outreach programs for local students.[1][6] She is the Vice President of the board of Youth Outreach in Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine Yo-STEM.[25] She is a member of the American Nuclear Society and American Chemical Society.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Clarice Phelps: Dedicated service to science and community | ORNL". www.ornl.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  2. ^ "STEM Magazine" (PDF). STEM Magazine. Retrieved 2019-04-02. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  3. ^ "Tennessee Aquatic Project and Development Group" (PDF). Tennessee Aquatic Project. Retrieved 2019-04-02. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  4. ^ "Spring Commencement Exercise" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-04-02. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  5. ^ "Clarice Phelps". nuclear.engr.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  6. ^ a b c "YWCA Tribute to Women finalists and special award winners". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  7. ^ Affairs, This story was written by Tamara R. Dabney, Navy Recruiting District Raleigh Public. "Nuclear Power: A Satisfying Career Fulfilling the Navy's Needs". www.navy.mil. Retrieved 2019-04-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Superior Training and Opportunity". Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  9. ^ a b c d "Clarice E Phelps | ORNL". www.ornl.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  10. ^ a b "Home | ORNL". www.ornl.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  11. ^ a b Chapman, Kit (2019-08-27). Superheavy: Making and Breaking the Periodic Table. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 9781472953896.
  12. ^ "Phelps wins YWCA Tribute to Women | ORNL". www.ornl.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  13. ^ Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2017-01-30), Tennessine: Discovering a New Element, retrieved 2019-04-03
  14. ^ ORNL Creative Media (2018-03-13), REDC final approval, retrieved 2019-04-03
  15. ^ Oganessian, Yu. Ts.; Abdullin, F. Sh.; Bailey, P. D.; Benker, D. E.; Bennett, M. E.; Dmitriev, S. N.; Ezold, J. G.; Hamilton, J. H.; Henderson, R. A. (2010-04-09). "Synthesis of a New Element with Atomic Number Z = 117". Physical Review Letters. 104 (14). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.142502. ISSN 0031-9007.
  16. ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). web.archive.org. 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  17. ^ DePaoli, David W.; Benker, Dennis; Delmau, Laetitia Helene; Sherman, Steven R.; Collins, Emory D.; Wham, Robert M. (2017-10-01). "Status Summary of Chemical Processing Development in Plutonium-238 Supply Program". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. ^ "Innovation Through Nuclear Science and Technology" (PDF). ORNL. Retrieved 2019-04-02. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  19. ^ Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2018-10-30), By the people, retrieved 2019-04-03
  20. ^ Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2019-03-08), Be A Leader Where You Are, retrieved 2019-04-03
  21. ^ Productions, F. A. R. (2017-09-11), YWCA Tribune to Women | Technology, Research, Innovation, retrieved 2019-04-03
  22. ^ "Phelps wins YWCA Tribute to Women | ORNL". www.ornl.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  23. ^ ORAU (2017-10-09), Vine Middle Magnet School: Hidden Figures, retrieved 2019-04-03
  24. ^ "Educational Outreach Committee | ORNL". www.ornl.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  25. ^ "Board of Directors". YO-STEM. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
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