ANA 2018 Award to John Harries, Don Higson and Neil McDonald
The ANA Award for 2018 was presented by Mark Ho, ANA President, jointly to John Harries, Neil McDonald and Don Higson at the ANA Lunch on Friday 7 December 2018 at Club-on-East, Sutherland, NSW.
The Award recognises the combined 70 years of service of these three senior ANA committee members. Their contributions include terms as President and as members of organising committees for many biennial national ANA Conferences and the two international Pacific Basin Nuclear Conferences held in Sydney.
Beyond their community outreach for nuclear science & technology as members of the ANA Committees, the Award recognizes the long-standing contributions of each to the nuclear industry. They have also contributed as long-term members of the Nuclear Engineering Panel of Engineers Australia.
Dr John Harries is a physicist who worked on reactor physics, the management & disposal of radioactive waste, environmental effects of mining and radioactivity in the environment during his 34 years as a research scientist at AAEC/ANSTO. He was Head of the Research Unit for the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia (1984-85) and Counsellor (Nuclear) in Washington DC between 1990-93. He has been a member of ANA Committee since 2003, including 5 years as President and seven years to date as Secretary of ANA, Editor of the Newsletter and Manager of several ANA Conferences.
Dr Don Higson, a specialist in nuclear safety, worked on nuclear propulsion for ships in the UK (’57-’63), the AAEC (’64 – ’85) specialising in nuclear reactor safety assessment, the Australian Safeguards Office (’85-’87), the AAEC (later ANSTO) Nuclear Safety Bureau (’87-‘92) and ANSTO Nuclear Safety Unit (’92-’94). During ’85 to ’87, he served as a Consultant to the IAEA on nuclear safety and safeguards. He is also a Fellow and Life Member of the Australasian Radiation Protection Society, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and a Member of the International Nuclear Energy Academy.
Dr Neil McDonald is a metallurgist with over 45 years of experience with reactor materials integrity research and assessment; reactor safety and regulation; and international nuclear issues. He also worked on the SGHWR-N and Jervis Bay nuclear power project, the HIFAR Safety Document and the Replacement Reactor (OPAL) project. During his long career at the AAEC/ANSTO, he was Counsellor (Atomic Energy) in Vienna (1956-69) and a staff member of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency in Paris (1986-90). He been on the ANA Committee since 1991 and served terms as President.