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| A.J. "Gus" Caffrey (left) and Richard N. Wright |
A.J. "Gus" Caffrey and Richard N. Wright have earned the distinction held by only nine others in the 62-year history of the lab. Selection as a fellow is the lab's top scientific achievement designation.
"Laboratory Fellows are the scientific leaders of the laboratory who have achieved a national and international reputation as authorities in their area of expertise," wrote Caffrey's manager, David Ceci, in his nomination letter.
Caffrey, a physicist, earned his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University, specializing in gamma ray and neutron spectroscopy. In his 32 years at INL he led the development of several transformative technologies, including Portable Isotopic Neutron Spectroscopy, which nondestructively detects the contents of munitions that may contain chemical warfare agents. It earned an R&D 100 Award 20 years ago and is used around the world today. He is also advancing an invention that can passively verify the contents of nuclear fuel casks.
Wright earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in metallurgical engineering from Michigan Technological University. During his 27-year tenure at INL, he has led several research efforts in the lab's Materials Science Department. He currently leads a team characterizing potential metals for applications in very high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant High Temperature Metals Research and Development Program.
Caffrey has consulted for the International Atomic Energy Agency, served on two national Energy Department panels, and is an original member of the U.S. Army's Munitions Assessment Review Board, which cannot lawfully meet unless an INL PINS scientist is present.
Wright has contributed and influenced the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy University Program, its Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) program and the Metals Working Group for the Generation IV International Forum on Very High Temperature Reactors, for which he chairs the management board. He has published 62 journal articles, 50 conference proceedings and nonreviewed articles, and holds seven patents.
A candidate for Laboratory Fellow is recommended by the employee’s manager to the Fellows Promotion Committee, which reviews promotion packages. Selection as an INL Laboratory Fellow equates to being named to an endowed chair at a major university, an elite member of a professional society or a member of a national academy.
The other nine INL Fellows are William Apel, James Delmore, J. Stephen Herring, Paul Meakin, Giuseppe Palmiotti, David Petti, Joy Rempe, Herschel Smartt and Terry Todd.
