PNNL

Dr. James Hayes is a physicist within the Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Technologies division of the National Security Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Hayes has served as the lead principal investigator for the development of autonomous in-field radionuclide collection and measurement capabilities at PNNL. He has worked in the area of radiation detection systems and nuclear technologies since 1997. 

Hayes led the development of the technology behind the award-winning Xenon International System, which measures radioactive xenon concentrations in the atmosphere to detect nuclear explosion activity. The automated system takes bigger samples, so it can detect even lower levels of radioxenon in about half the time as previous solutions, resulting in the ability to detect nuclear testing at the most remote places on Earth. This technology was recognized with an R&D 100 Award, marking it as one of 2019's top 100 innovations. The technology also received a Federal Laboratory Consortium award for licensing the technology to Teledyne Brown Engineering, which partnered with the PNNL team to create a new product, Xenon International, to be made available to the international monitoring community. The careful engineering design of Xenon International has enabled a next-generation radioxenon monitoring system. 

Hayes was also part of a team of PNNL researchers recognized for a Secretary’s Honor Award for their work with producers of the crucial medical radioisotope, molybdenum-99 from low-enriched uranium. This research helps minimize and, to the extent possible, eliminate the use of highly enriched uranium—a proliferation-sensitive material—in civilian medical applications and manages the byproducts to keep medical isotope production workers, the public, and the environment safe. 

• Physics
• Radiation detection systems
• Nuclear technologies 

• PhD in Organic Chemistry, University of Nevada - Reno
• BS in Chemistry, Eastern Washington University

• Samuel Abraham Goudsmit Medal from the University of Nevada

• Systems and methods for assaying a radioactive gas, and related scintillation cells , Patent ID: 9326 | Patent Number 10,274,609 | Status: Granted