Volume 6, Number 2
December 2008

Editor's Note

By Brian Boyer INMM Communicator Editor E-mail: bboyer@lanl.gov

Welcome to the December 2008 issue of the INMM Communicator!

I started writing this piece while on travel between Boston and Brookhaven while working hard on international safeguards issues but later at the Executive Committee meeting in San Diego, some new exciting news about our profession came to light that I must tell you all about. I know many of you are also working hard on the many aspects of our profession and also spend a lot of time on the road and we all know how hard that can be.

In this issue, we focus on one part of our profession, international safeguards, with a report from the International Safeguards Division (ISD) from Jim Larrimore, chair of the INMM International Safeguards Division. The ISD has been busy this year putting on the ANS/INMM Portland meeting as well as special sessions at the 49th Annual INMM Meeting in Nashville.

And what is our late-breaking new exciting news? It is the unveiling of WINS at the IAEA General Conference. Corey Hinderstein from NTI, who is the Northeast INMM Chapter president, has a few words to introduce this new venture.

INMM's 50th Annual Meeting will be held July 12-16, 2009, at the JW Marriott Star Pass in Tucson, Ariz. USA. Abstracts are being accepted until Feb. 1, 2009. Read more about our golden anniversary meeting.

As in every issue of the Communicator, we have news about the Institute’s internal operations in a column by INMM Vice President Scott Vance, Inside Insights. Another regular feature is the piece Member News, by Grace Thompson, our outgoing Membership Committee chair. A special welcome to all the new INMM members since the summer; their names are listed in Thompson’s piece.

As I mentioned in the last issue, we had a huge contingent of students at the INMM Annual Meeting. However, this month we have a spotlight on Karen Miller, a student member and Texas A&M student closing in on her Ph.D. Miller is working at LANL doing her dissertation and is an exceptional student and has the kind of enthusiasm and spirit we need to keep our organization and profession growing. Both LANL and Texas A&M are proud of her and she is one of the many fine students we all are trying to develop who will be the future of INMM. However, she was not at the Nashville meeting because she was at the World Nuclear University. She writes about her experiences there.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you. If you have any items you would like to see in the Communicator, forward them to me. We are the Communications Committee! Spreading the news of what is and what goes on in our profession is our mission! Of course, the Communications Committee is still looking for volunteers: drop me a line at bboyer@lanl.gov. I also wish all of you a wonderful holiday season and new year.