For 50 years, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and its predecessor Department of Energy (DOE) organizations have stewarded the resources and capabilities to respond to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the United States and around the world. On September 19, NNSA celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of support for this mission at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL or Laboratory) National Security Associate Laboratory Director Deb Gracio, Nuclear Incident Response Deputy Program Manager Nate Russo, and Nuclear Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation Subsector Manager John Hayes attended the celebration and marked PNNL’s involvement with the Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST).

PNNL supports the Office of Nuclear Incident Response (NIR) and NEST by developing algorithms, software, hardware, and communications platforms that allow NIR operational teams and NEST partners, including federal, state, local, and nongovernmental organizations, to seamlessly engage using a controlled cloud network (NEST.net Green)—a first for these teams.

“Imagine when the NEST is activated to respond to an incident. The response team members need to share documents and data and collaborate to help them address the situation,” said PNNL’s NIR Program Manager Gariann Gelston. “And that is exactly what the NEST.net provides—a communications platform integrating all types of data and media to help the NEST teams. It’s game-changing,” she added.

With the successful implementation of NEST.net Green, solutions architect Katie Knobbs is leading PNNL and NIR efforts to extend this level of collaboration to a classified platform.

NEST is composed of scientists, engineers, emergency managers, and technicians from the national laboratories, plants, and sites who volunteer to support the incident response missions of NNSA and DOE. NEST responds to various contingencies based on legal statutes, presidential policies, and international agreements. 

Experts at PNNL provide a wide range of support to NEST, including on-call personnel who could be deployed anywhere in the world to provide technical support during a contamination incident. The Laboratory is working on the support architecture that would allow it to process samples associated with potential radiation injury. PNNL also supports NEST exercise planning directly as well as the development of Microsoft applications for exercise development and execution.

“NEST is called upon to provide scientific support to emerging situations worldwide and PNNL uses its unique capabilities to ensure that NEST is able to complete its mission. We look forward to PNNL personnel and capabilities continuing their critical support for the next 50 years of NEST,” said Russo.