Bio
Biographical Information
Mr. Blanchard earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette in 1988. He has held a Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) certification and Shift Supervisor (SS) qualification at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR).
Mr. Blanchard has worked at the HFIR since 1999 initially providing engineering, technical, and administrative support to reactor operations as an Operations Engineer. He also served as the HFIR Emergency Preparedness, Security, and Spent Fuel Shipping Coordinator. After a time away from Operations, Mr. Blanchard returned to serve as the Operations Manager for nearly eight years. He is currently serving as the HFIR Plant Manager. Before coming to ORNL, Mr. Blanchard worked at the Savannah River Site (SRS) serving as an Operations/Project Engineer and an Operations Manager.
Mr. Blanchard has over 34 years experience with the Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear operations. His varied experience includes operations/project/systems engineering support, maintenance, quality assurance, conduct of operations, hazardous and radioactive material transportation, irradiated fuel management, and security/emergency management.