Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Pigford, Thomas H.
- Abstract:
- The Thomas H. Pigford papers including correspondence, research files, writings, reports, presentations, notebooks and course materials.
- Extent:
- 8 cartons, 1 box, 1 cardfile box, 1 oversize folder (10.80 linear feet)
- Language:
- Collection materials are in English
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Thomas H. Pigford papers contain correspondence, research files, writings, reports, presentations, notebooks and course materials that document the breadth of his dynamic career. Highlights of the collection include his reports and assessments of the accidents in Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, as well as his participation in such groups as the Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee, the National Research Council’s Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Resources and the Board on Nuclear Waste Management, among others. Researchers will also benefit from Pigford’s research files and writings, and their in-depth exploration of such topics as fuel cycles in nuclear reactors, the geologic disposal of nuclear waste and the design of nuclear reactors.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Founding chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at U.C. Berkeley, Thomas H. Pigford’s five-decade career included the areas of nuclear reactor design, nuclear safety, nuclear fuel cycles and radioactive waste management. A pioneer in the development of nuclear engineering as a field of study, Pigford led a research program at U.C. Berkeley that developed a theoretical means for predicting the long-term behavior of radioactive and chemical waste disposed of underground. A strong proponent of nuclear power, Pigford was, equally, a vocal advocate for the application of strict safety standards for its use. As a result, he was appointed to a number of advisory commissions on nuclear reactor safety, including those charged with evaluating the accidents in Chernobyl, Ukraine and Three Mile Island in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology (BS, Chemical Engineering, 1943) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sc.D, Chemical Engineering, 1952), Pigford was appointed Associate Professor of Nuclear and Chemical Engineering at MIT in 1955, directed its Graduate School of Engineering Practice in Oak Ridge, Tennessee for a period of two years and, upon his return to MIT, helped found their new graduate program in nuclear engineering. From 1957-1959, he was a founding member of the nuclear technology research and development firm General Atomic (now known as General Atomics) in La Jolla, California. Pigford began his teaching career at U.C. Berkeley in 1959, where he was the first permanent chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department, ultimately serving three non-consecutive terms. He also held the post of Senior Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Pigford remained at U.C. Berkeley for the rest of his career, retiring in 1991, at which time he became Professor Emeritus.
- Acquisition information:
- Donated by Thomas H. Pigford in 1999.
- Physical location:
- Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481