Lainy Dromgoole Cochran will be receiving her M.S. degree in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University this August. She worked with Dr. Craig Marianno to do preliminary dose assessments for unsealed radioactive sources to be used as part of emergency response exercises at the TEEX Disaster City facility at Texas A&M. Using unsealed radioactive sources can enhance emergency response exercises by simulating a more realistic response environment following an incident involving the dispersion of radioactive material. A preliminary dose assessment for the exercise was performed based on conservative calculation methods used in assessments for unsealed contamination exercises performed at other sites, and radionuclides were identified that could be used for an unsealed contamination exercise at Disaster City.
Cochran received a B.S. in radiological health engineering from Texas A&M University in 2013. She has completed internships at two nuclear power plants, the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Cochran successfully defended her master’s thesis in May, and after graduation she will be taking a position at Sandia National Laboratories in support of their Nuclear Incident Response Program.