Skip to Main Content U.S. Department of Energy
Energy and Environment Directorate

Ronald McConn

Ronald McConn

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
PO Box 999
Richland, WA 99352
(509) 375-6629

Biography

Mr. McConn is a Senior Research Scientist/Health Physicist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which is operated by the Battelle Memorial Institute of the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to joining the PNNL team in 2003, he worked for a private environmental consulting firm following graduation from the Ohio State University in 1992. His primary focus has been on estimating the potential personnel exposure to radiation and radioactive materials through a variety of pathways and methods. Some of his work involved the remediation of contaminated sites, participation in facility design, and completion of safety analyses for a variety of facilities. Mr. McConn has also worked with a variety of radiation detection equipment and is well versed in the use of a large number of health physics and risk analysis computer codes. He has completed over one year of graduate level course work in health physics, nuclear engineering and risk assessment methodologies from the Ohio State University and Miami University of Ohio.

Research Interests

  • Radiation measurements
  • Radiation transport modeling
  • Instrumentation for homeland security
  • Safety and risk analysis
  • Environmental remediation

Education and Credentials

  • B.S., Engineering Physics, Ohio State, Technical specialty in Health Physics, 1992
  • 10 week course in risk assessment from the Miami University of Ohio,1993

Affiliations and Professional Service

  • Health Physics Society
  • Columbia Chapter, Health Physics Society
  • Associate member of the American Academy of Health Physics

PNNL Publications

2018

  • Kulisek J.A., R. Wittmann, E.A. Miller, W.J. Kernan, J.D. McCall, R.J. McConn, and J.E. Schweppe, et al. 2018. "A 3D Simulation Look-Up Library for Real-Time Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy." Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 879. PNNL-SA-113390. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2017.10.030

2008

  • Kouzes R.T., E.R. Siciliano, J.H. Ely, P.E. Keller, and R.J. McConn. 2008. "Passive Neutron Detection at Borders." In IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS '07), October 26-November 3, 2007, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2, 1115 - 1119. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-56986. doi:10.1109/NSSMIC.2007.4437203
  • Kouzes R.T., E.R. Siciliano, J.H. Ely, P.E. Keller, and R.J. McConn. 2008. "Passive Neutron Detection for Interdiction of Nuclear Material at Borders." Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 584, no. 2-3:383-400. PNNL-SA-54753.
  • Smith L.E., C.J. Gesh, R.T. Pagh, E.A. Miller, M.W. Shaver, E.D. Ashbaker, and M.T. Batdorf, et al. 2008. "Coupling Deterministic and Monte Carlo Transport Methods for the Simulation of Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy Scenarios." IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 55, no. 5, Pt 2:2598 - 2606. PNNL-SA-55910.

2006

  • Robinson S.M., R.J. McConn, R.T. Pagh, J.E. Schweppe, and E.R. Siciliano. 2006. "Characteristics of multiprocessing MCNP5 on small personal computer clusters." Journal of Instrumentation 1. PNNL-SA-47255.
  • Schweppe J.E., J.H. Ely, R.J. McConn, R.T. Pagh, S.M. Robinson, and E.R. Siciliano. 2006. "The Effect of the Three-Dimensional Geometry of Cargo on the Detection of Radioactive Sources in Cargo Containers." In IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, October 29-November 4, 2006, San Diego, California, edited by B Phlips, 1, 295-299. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-52868. doi:10.1109/NSSMIC.2006.356160
  • Smith L.E., C.J. Gesh, R.T. Pagh, R.J. McConn, J.E. Ellis, W.R. Kaye, and G.H. Meriwether, et al. 2006. "Deterministic Transport Methods for the Simulation of Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy Scenarios." In 2006 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, October 29-November 1, 2006, San Diego, California, edited by B Philips, 6, 588-592. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-52503. doi:10.1109/NSSMIC.2006.356224

2005

  • Pagh R.T., R.T. Kouzes, R.J. McConn, S.M. Robinson, J.E. Schweppe, and E.R. Siciliano. 2005. "Computer Modeling of Radiation Portal Monitors for Homeland Security Applications." Transactions of the American Nuclear Society 93. PNNL-SA-45628.
  • Robinson S.M., R.T. Kouzes, R.J. McConn, R.T. Pagh, J.E. Schweppe, and E.R. Siciliano. 2005. "Creation of Realistic Radiation Transport Models of Radiation Portal Monitors for Homeland Security Purposes." In 2005 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, October 23-29, 2005, Puerto Rico, 2, 1014-1018. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-46341. doi:10.1109/NSSMIC.2005.1596425
  • Schweppe J.E., J.H. Ely, R.T. Kouzes, R.J. McConn, R.T. Pagh, S.M. Robinson, and E.R. Siciliano, et al. 2005. "Validation of Computer Models for Homeland Security Purposes." In IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, October 23-29, 2009, Puerto Rico, edited by B Yu, 1, 297-301. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-47419. doi:10.1109/NSSMIC.2005.1596257

Energy and Environment

Core Research Areas

Contacts