10th International Conference on Methods and Applications of Radioanalytical Chemistry (MARC X) Introduction.

Abstract

The Tenth International Conference on Methods and Applications of Radioanalytical Chemistry (MARC X) was held April 12–17, 2015 at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States. Having grown significantly since the first MARC conference in 1987, MARC X was attended by over 300 professionals and 80 students from the nuclear sciences and engineering. Attendees came from over 30 countries and two multinational organizations, demonstrating MARC continues to be an important international forum for reporting advances in radioanalytical chemistry. Overall, the quality of presentations was outstanding, and when combined with the relaxed environment of the conference, led to productive discussions and opportunities for scientific exchange. The keen foresight of the MARC founding organizers to create a topical meeting dedicated to all aspects of radioanalytical chemistry was highlighted in MARC X with sessions covering a broad range of both long-standing and emerging technical areas. These outstanding sessions were made possible by the hard work and dedication of the many session organizers who stimulated contributions from academia, government, and industry. A wide variety of topics were covered in the scientific program of MARC X including environmental radioactivity measurements, activation analysis, biology and medical applications, actinide analytical chemistry, radiation detectors and instrumentation, nonproliferation and safeguards, treaty monitoring, nuclear forensics, and radionuclide measurements using mass spectrometry. A highlight of MARC X was the presentation of the Hevesy Medal to Professor Dr. Susanta Lahiri of the Chemical Sciences Division, Saha Institute for Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India for his lifetime achievements in radiochemistry. After the awards ceremony, Prof. Dr. Lahiri presented an interesting overview of his career’s work. The technical program opened with a plenary session of outstanding and timely presentations by Prof. Ken Beusseler, Prof. Tomoko Nakanishi, Dr. Ross Williams, and Dr. Simon Jerome. In total, over 400 presentations were given in both oral and poster sessions at the conference with over 150 of these submitted as full papers for the proceedings. As for previous conferences, all papers were peer-reviewed by at least two reviewers, as is the policy of the Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry. We want to express our sincere appreciation to the many people who helped organize MARC X. Jim Tanner once again proved invaluable as the Finance and Housing Chair. Robert Steiner, Ned Wogman, Lei Cao, Steve Biegalski, Kenneth Inn, Heather Dion, Matthew Douglas, and Alex Plionis served expertly as Assistant Program Chairs. Publicity Chair Harry Miley worked hard to garner support for MARC X from a diverse group of sponsors. Bob Runkle provided the critical interface with the US Department of Energy to ensure approvals were in place for National Laboratory employees to attend. Annie Kersting and Richard Ragaini served as terrific liaisons between MARC X and the Northern California Section of the American Nuclear Society. Conference Secretary Patti Wilson did an exceptional job with administrative activities including registration. Sherry Glover, Proceedings Chair, proficiently collected and organized papers submitted for publication. The MARC X website was expertly designed and maintained by Daniel Glover, and Joe Sullivan provided expert IT support. Many members of the Technical Program Committee made special efforts to organize topical sessions and develop the excellent scientific program for the conference. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Samantha Connelly, Jeffrey Morrison, Paul Saey, Tomoko Nakanishi, A. Chatt, William Burnett, Henrietta Dulaiova, Evelyn Bond, Ralf Sudowe, David Diprete, R. Brennetot, Florence Goutelard, Martin Keiller, James Bowen, Pavel Povinec, Warren Oldham, Henry Spitz, Lav Tandon, Pamela Thompson, Simon Jerome, Stephan Richter, K. Mathew, Jacqueline Mann, Lisa Meyers, Christian Ekberg, Mikael Nilsson, Fabien Pointurier, Jeffrey Giglio, Gregory Downing, Elisabete Fernandes, Monique Lacroix, George Lasche, Craig Aalseth, V.P. Kolotov, Sue Clark, Xaiolin Hou, Thorsten Schafer, Amanda Klingensmith, Todd Bredeweg, Clemens Walther, and George Steinhauser. The support of Canberra, Nu Instruments, Thermo Fisher, IsotopX, XIA LLC, Nuclear Security Technologies LLC, University of Texas, Durridge, and Ohio State University were critical to the success of MARC X. Special thanks are due to Dr. Zsolt Revay, Editor-in-Chief, and Dr. Tibor Kocsor of the Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, for assistance in publishing these Proceedings in a timely fashion. We would like to express the appreciation for the support of the Divisions of Isotopes & Radiation and Biology & Medicine of the American Nuclear Society, and the Northern California Section of the American Nuclear Society, sponsors of MARC X. Lastly, we would like to encourage all readers to keep informed and plan to attend MARC XI to be held in April 2018 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA. Information on the conference can be found at the conference website: http://www.marcconference.org.