Bay Area Neutron Group

Bio:

Lee Bernstein leads the Nuclear Data Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and UC Berkeley. BAND works to address the nuclear data needs of basic and applied nuclear science while training the next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers. This includes measuring cross sections for the production of radioisotopes for medical, national security and energy applications^[1],[2],[3], determining nuclear properties important for accurate reaction^[4],[5] and fission^[6] modeling, and developing new high-intensity neutron sources for isotope production^[7],[8].

Dr. Bernstein earned his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from Rutgers University in 1994 and spent the next 22 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as a staff scientist studying a wide array of topics including high-spin nuclear structure; neutron cross section measurements; understanding the properties of hot nuclear matter and the development of the surrogate ratio method. Dr. Bernstein helped develop the nuclear science and diagnostics program at the National Ignition Facility (NIF)^[9] serving as both the deputy and group leader.

Dr. Bernstein is an adjunct professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering where he teaches the upper-level nuclear physics course (NE101/210M) and has developed two courses on nuclear physics in high energy density plasmas (NE290J) and applied nuclear science related to nonproliferation (NE290A). Prof. Bernstein has supervised more than 30 postdoctoral researchers and graduate students and published more than 170 articles.

Dr. Bernstein is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a recipient of numerous awards including a Defense Programs Award of Excellence for determining the ²³⁹Pu(n,2n) cross section using a combination of experiment and theory and an LLNL Director’s Science and Technology Award for the Development of Gaseous and Solid Radchem diagnostics at the National Ignition Facility.

[1] A.S. Voyles et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods. B 410 (2017) Pages 230–239. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2017.08.021

[2] A.S. Voyles et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods in Physics Research B 429 (2018) Pages 53–74 (2018).  https://doi.org/10.1016/J.NIMB.2018.05.028

[3] J.C. Batchelder et al., “Evidence of non-statistical properties in the ³⁵Cl(n,p)³⁵S Cross-section” submitted to Phys Rev. C.

[4] L.E. Kirsch and L.A. Bernstein, Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 892, Pages 30–40. 1 June 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.02.096

[5] M.D. Jones et al., Phys. Rev. C 97 2 024327 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.97.024327

[6] E.F. Matthews et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 891, Pages 111-117. 21 May 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.02.072

[7] M. Allyon et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods in Physics Research A 903, 21 September 2018, p. 193-203 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.04.020

[8] K.P. Harrig et al., Nucl. Instrum. and Methods in Physics, A 877 359–366 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2017.09.051

[9] D.H.G. Schneider et al., J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 45 033003 (111pp) (2018) https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6471/aa8693.