Thomas Pigford, influential voice in nuclear policy, dies at 87

Thomas Pigford, professor emeritus and founding chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and an influential voice in nuclear policy, has died at the age of 87. Pigford died Sunday, Feb. 28, at his home in Oakland, Calif., from complications of Parkinson's disease. Pigford’s five-decade career in nuclear engineering – captured in an oral history produced by The Bancroft Library on campus – spanned nuclear reactor design, nuclear safety, nuclear fuel cycles and radioactive waste management. At UC Berkeley, he led a research program to develop theoretical means for predicting the long-term behavior of radioactive and chemical waste disposed of underground. Results of this research have been used in the design of geologic repositories for radioactive waste in the United States and abroad. Toward the end of his career, he became engaged in studies related to nuclear weapons proliferation and arms control.