David H Cook

Bio

            Dr. David Cook currently serves as a Distinguished R&D Staff member at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), with 36 years of experience at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), where he has been manager of the Nuclear Analysis Group, Chief Safety Analyst, Cold Neutron Source (CNS) Safety Lead, Safety Basis Authority for the HFIR and CNS, Team Lead for Reactor Analysis and Modeling, and is currently the Section Head for Nuclear Safety and Experiment Analysis.  

            Dr. Cook served as the project safety analysis lead for the HFIR CNS from 2000-2007, performing safety design and development support, system safety analysis, hydrogen explosion analysis, cryogenic analysis, and startup testing safety analysis support for the CNS.

            Dr. Cook’s research interests include all aspects of nuclear safety analysis, with an emphasis on thermal hydraulics.  Recently, he has been involved in many aspects of the efforts to ensure a safe and reliable source of high enriched uranium (HEU) fuel for the HFIR and as a separate effort, to convert the HFIR from HEU fuel to new low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. 

           Dr. Cook’s educational background includes a B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee and a M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University.  Dr. Cook has served as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Nuclear Engineering Department of the University of Tennessee, where he assisted in teaching thermal hydraulics and nuclear safety courses. 

Publications