HIS ASSIGNMENT: NUCLEAR SAFETY
Not long ago, Dan Archer was a single man sometimes working 20-hour days on his doctorate in nuclear physics at Florida State University and filling his spare time satisfying his passion for teaching youngsters the joys of science.
"It's important to show science isn't for geeks," Archer said. "It can be fascinating. It's an art."
That was then.
Today, Dr. Dan Archer is a newlywed working in California
at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on a joint project
with the U.S. government and Russia. Archer's mission is to help
keep the world safe from nuclear attack.
"It's a totally different ballgame," Archer said. "Florida
State research was just pure basic science research."
By contrast, Archer said, his work now is "a very driven world" with many frustrations: complications with language barriers and technological differences, and coping with political sensitivities.
"You take a big pot. Throw in Americans, Russians. Throw in secrets, and politicians," he said.
At Florida State, Archer's professors are applauding his success.
"He's going to be a big star," said Dr. Mark Riley, Archer's doctoral professor. "I hope we helped hone and develop him in those areas."
After Archer received his doctorate at FSU, he was hired by Livermore and stationed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. His assignment was to build additions to a sophisticated particle accelerator twice the size of one he had used at Florida State.
"At Los Alamos, it was basic science with application
built into it," Archer said.
Archer moved to the Livermore headquarters in California to join
the Radiation Detection Group.
Part of his job is to develop detectors for radioactive materials
being smuggled out of Russia on trains running across 12,000
miles of remote lands.
One of the possible pathways leads into terrorist hands in Iran.
In addition, Archer is involved in developing a second line of defense. He is part of a design and construction team building a storage facility for plutonium taken from Russia's dismantled nuclear weapons.
The United States is paying Russians to store the plutonium, Archer said.
"We'd rather pay the Russians to work than have Russians sell it and walk off with a lot of money," he said.
As exciting and demanding as his work is now, Archer speaks almost wistfully of his years at FSU with what he describes as a tightly knit group of graduate students.
"I had a lot of fun, a lot of freedom as a graduate student to explore different fields, work your own hours, freedom to go on with your research," he said. "You get to play a little also." - Dana Peck
APRIL/MAY 2001
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