Journal of Nuclear Materials Management:
A History
The Journal of Nuclear Materials Management is a spectacular record of the development of the nuclear materials management research during the last 30 years.
Although the Journal was first published in 1972, its predecessor, the INMM Newsletter, had established itself as an important tool for nuclear materials management professions some 13 years before.
The INMM Newsletter was first published in August 1959 about one year after the founding of the Institute.
The Newsletter was prepared by William B. Thomas, secretary of the INMM at Westinghouse Bettis Atomic Power Plant in Pittsburgh, Pa. In September 1961, Matthew N. Kuehn of Malinckrodt Chemical Works, St. Charles, Mo., was named publisher and Ella Werner of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Washington D.C., became editor of the Newsletter.
In May 1963, Sheldon Kops, of AEC in Chicago, replaced Werner as editor and the following year, Vince Donihee of General Electric, Richland, Wash., was appointed editor. In November 1965, Harley Toy of Battelle, Columbus, was named publisher.
A year later, Raymond L. Jackson of Battelle, Columbus, assumed the roles of publisher and editor. He remained in those positions until the final Newsletter was published in January 1972.
The first Journal of Nuclear Materials Management was published in April 1972 at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., with Dr. Curt Chezem as editor and Thomas Gerdis as managing editor.
Chezem was head of the nuclear engineering department at the university and Gerdis was obtaining an advanced degree in communications. The initial issue was 16 pages and contained two technical papers.
The subscription price was established at $15 for three issues and the annual meeting proceedings. Members, of course, received the Journal and proceedings as part of their membership.
In July 1974, Chezem left the university and Gerdis became editor and Willie Higginbotham became technical editor. Gerdis left INMM in summer 1980 to take a public affairs position with U. S. Ecology of Louisville, Ky.
At that time, E. R. Johnson Associates was contracted to be the secretariat of the INMM (including publishing the Journal) until an association management firm could be selected. Until that time, all executive and administrative activities of the INMM were accomplished by volunteers.
On Oct. 1, 1981, the association management firm of Messervey and Co. took over the executive directorship of the INMM, including publishing the Journal. The Sherwood Group has since succeeded Messervey and Co.
The following is an excerpt from an article by Jim Lovett, who was chairman of INMM when the first issues of JNMM was published in April 1972:
New Journal - A Bold Step
Junior materials management personnel frequently ask, "Why should I join the INMM when I can't come to the meetings?" The logic is debatable because attendance at meetings usually depends more on presenting a paper than on membership, but the question itself is valid.
Why should anyone belong to the INMM if annual meetings are all there is?
For that matter, why should anyone belong to the INMM, with or without annual meetings?... Membership in INMM is, or should become important because membership carries with it a valuable reference journal....
We expect it to become the voice of the INMM, speaking to the members themselves. We expect to make available the technical information presented at the annual meetings, not to just those who attended the meeting, but to all members.
We expect it to provide a mechanism for the publication of technical information which for one reason or another was not presented at the annual meeting. In short, we expect it to answer the question of why one should belong to the INMM if he can attend the meetings.
The Journal is a bold step, one that has been almost two years in the making, and one that without the support of the membership could prove to be expensive. It is, nevertheless, a step that must be taken.
The INMM is over ten years old, and it has close to 400 members. It must recognize its responsibilities to its members. Conversely, its members must recognize their responsibilities to the INMM....
A journal can only be as good as the material it receives.
Willie Higginbotham remained technical editor until the fall of 1994. Darryl Smith took over the position for three years until fall 1997. Dennis Mangan of Sandia National Laboratories has been technical editor of JNMM since 1997.
Today, Mangan is assisted by Steve Dupree, also of Sandia, who acts as assistant technical editor. He also manages the Journal's peer review process.
The Journal is now published quarterly and includes INMM news, information on events and workshops of interest to nuclear materials management professionals, and several high-quality technical papers that address all aspects of nuclear materials management.
© 2008 Institute of Nuclear Materials Management