Photo By Kristen Crisp | Art Palmer and other radiation safety professionals enter Three Mile Island Unit 2...... read more read more
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Most people will never meet a health physicist — and that’s exactly the point.
When radioactive materials are involved, whether at a former nuclear weapons site, a decommissioned reactor, or a legacy industrial facility, the goal is simple: protect workers, safeguard communities and reduce potential radiation risks to levels that are demonstrably safe. At the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), health physicists are the professionals responsible for making that happen. Their work is often behind the scenes but always with consequences that matter deeply to the public.
Within USACE, health physicists support some of the most complex environmental cleanup and radiation safety missions in the federal government. Their work spans the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), the Army Deactivated Nuclear Power Plant Program (DNPPP), emergency response, enterprise-wide radiation safety, and specialized Department of War and other federal agency efforts.
“Health physics is a niche field, but the problems we work on are anything but small,” said Nicki Fatherly, FUSRAP national program manager. “USACE health physicists bring technical credibility, regulatory fluency and an ability to communicate risk clearly — all essential skills when projects affect real communities.”
USACE health physicists come from backgrounds as diverse as the work they do. With experience ranging from nuclear engineering and military service to environmental science and reactor operations, each brings a unique skill set that allows them to operate at the intersection of science, regulation, engineering and public trust. Currently, USACE has 18 health physicists, forming a specialized community of practice called the Radiation Safety Support Team (RSST) who serve as the centralized technical authority supporting districts that do not have in-house health physicists.
“Whether the issue involves environmental remediation, radiation safety monitoring, materials handling, demolition and decommissioning or emergency response, the RSST can be relied on to provide expert and technically defensible guidance across the enterprise,” said Fatherly.
What follows is a closer look at some of these experts and why their work matters.
Art Palmer: A Different Kind of Thrill
At 17, Art Palmer wanted adventure.
He walked into an Army recruiter’s office hoping to jump out of airplanes. Instead, he walked next door, listened to a Navy pitch about nuclear submarines and signed on.
“I didn’t know enough to differentiate,” Palmer said with a laugh. “I was just looking for anything exciting.” That decision launched a 52-year career in radiation protection: one defined less by adrenaline and more by discipline, precision and safety.
Palmer trained as a radiochemist in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear program, working aboard nuclear submarines before leaving the service and entering college. While studying physics, he answered a newspaper ad seeking radiation safety technicians, an opportunity that led him to the cleanup and recovery effort at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.
At first, he expected chaos.
“Because it was a reactor accident, I thought it would be a headache,” he said. “What it turned out to be was a tremendous learning experience where I got to be a fly on the wall watching some of the best radiation experts in the world.”
For 11 years, Palmer supported radiation control and later the restart of the undamaged reactor unit at Three Mile Island, working alongside leading experts in the field. The experience shaped his philosophy: excitement in nuclear work is not something you seek — it is something you prevent.
Today, as a health physicist with USACE Baltimore District, Radiological Health Physics Regional Center of Expertise, Palmer focuses on ensuring that radiation controls are effective long before problems arise.
“The big picture is protecting worker and public health and safety, with a focus on radioactive materials,” he said.
His work includes reviewing plans and regulatory documents to ensure compliance with Army and federal standards, then traveling to project sites to confirm that procedures are implemented correctly and cleanup objectives are met.
“In the office we’re looking at the paper and the data,” he said. “In the field, we’re looking at how well the plans actually worked.”
It may not be the adventure he once imagined, but for Palmer, the real thrill comes from making sure nothing unexpected happens at all.
Dave Hays: Did Someone Say ‘Radiation’?
Dave Hays said he and the other USACE health physicists don’t wait for problems to emerge; they get involved as soon as radiation enters the conversation.
“We get involved as soon as possible anytime that radiation is mentioned,” Hays said. “We’re involved in everything dealing with radioactivity.”
A senior health physicist with the Kansas City District, Hays began his career working with medical and industrial application of radiation as an active-duty preventive medicine technician in the Army. Nearly four decades later, including more than 30 years with USACE, he has built a career defined by breadth and early engagement.
Hays supports projects ranging from environmental remediation and industrial operations to reactor-related work and radioactive material transportation and disposal. But much of his focus centers on the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), where early involvement is critical.
Under FUSRAP, USACE identifies, investigates and, when necessary, cleans up sites contaminated during the nation’s early atomic energy programs. Hays has contributed at every stage of that process: helping write preliminary assessments, conducting site investigations and supporting projects through final remediation and closure.
“It’s not just reviewing paperwork,” he said. “We’re part of the team from the very beginning, helping shape how the work gets done safely.”
He also provides technical support to other federal agencies, including the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, helping determine regulatory compliant cleanup approaches.
For Hays, the diversity of assignments is part of what makes the role uniquely suited to USACE.
“It’s a wide range, and it’s that variety that keeps the job interesting,” Hays said. “After 39 years, I still love the job.”
Darrell Liles: From Operations to Decommissions
Darrell Liles’ career in health physics began at sea.
He spent six years in the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Program, serving as an operational health physicist aboard the USS Long Beach. There, he was trained not only in radiation safety, but also as a mechanical operator where he gained a working knowledge of reactor systems from the inside out.
“Reactors are where I cut my teeth,” Liles said. “We had to understand how every system worked, not just from a radiation standpoint but also mechanically.”
After leaving the Navy and earning a degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla, now Missouri University of Science and Technology, Liles joined the U.S. Geological Survey as a reactor health physicist and later became the radiation safety officer for facilities across the country. He then moved to the Environmental Protection Agency, supporting emergency response efforts, before spending seven years consulting in the uranium recovery sector.
Today, as a senior health physicist with the Baltimore District and acting radiation safety officer for USACE, Liles said that his early operational experience with the Navy informs his work across all major health physics portfolios, including the Army Deactivated Nuclear Power Plant Program (DNPPP).
“Though the reactors we are decommissioning are different from the ones I worked on in the Navy, they have similar technology where the radioactivity tends to accumulate in the same places. That experience has definitely helped me, especially when it comes to reviewing plans and understanding that we may have a problem in a particular area,” said Liles. “No matter what project we’re working on, our job as health physicists is to protect workers and the public and make sure we don’t miss anything.”
He has also been instrumental in USACE’s support of Operation Tomodachi following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that caused the meltdown of three nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan. As part of the U.S. disaster-relief operation, the Navy deployed ships to radiation-contaminated areas to deliver aid. Using advanced gamma spectroscopy techniques, USACE health physicists assess contamination on ship components to determine what can be safely reused and what requires controls.
“The Navy was taking the components apart and surveying by hand, which is incredibly labor intensive, so they reached out to us,” said Liles. “Our process is saving quite a bit of time and a lot of money, somewhere over $2 billion.”
Jessica Lauda: Translating Risk, Providing Relief
For Jessica Lauda, the most meaningful part of health physics isn’t the science — it’s the people.
Lauda, a health physicist with the Buffalo District, works primarily on FUSRAP sites, often in areas where the legacy of radioactive contamination is personal and deeply felt. At one site in a small town outside Pittsburgh, nearly every resident either worked for the former facility or knows someone who did.
“There’s a lot of speculation and lore that gets passed down in these communities,” Lauda said. “People are worried about what was left behind and what that means for their health.”
Public meetings are held every six months, and emotions often run high. Lauda sees her role as helping bridge the gap between technical reality and public fear.
“There’s a fear of the unknown that comes from not understanding the risk,” she said. “I can explain what the risks actually are, how we control them and what the remediation plan looks like. That understanding provides real relief.”
As one of USACE’s newest health physicists, Lauda also values the collaborative culture among her colleagues. “There’s a real community here,” she said. “You can bounce ideas off each other and tap into decades of combined experience.”
Lauda’s own experience includes more than six years as a civilian radiological nuclear engineer for the Navy and a degree in environmental engineering.
“What really drew me from engineering into health physics was the focus on people and the environment,” she said. “Health physicists are really concerned with public safety, not just getting a project done.”
Neil Miller: Mission-Driven Professional Growth
Neil Miller joined the USACE as a new graduate looking for direction. Nearly two decades later, he credits USACE with not only shaping his career but expanding it beyond what he first imagined.
With bachelor’s degrees in physics and math, Miller initially explored medical physics. Instead, he accepted a health physics internship with USACE — part of what is now known as the Army Fellows Program — and discovered a field that blended technical rigor with public service.
“I knew I wanted to do something with radiation and a physics degree,” Miller said. “When I found health physics at USACE, it just made sense.”
Through the Occupational Health and Safety career program, he completed four months of Army safety training at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and starting in 2007, he gained hands-on experience supporting environmental investigations and radioactive waste cleanup projects.
“When I first started, I felt like I had a huge learning curve,” Miller said. “I knew math and physics, but I didn’t know much about environmental work.”
USACE provided the structure and support to close that gap, he said. Through Army and USACE-funded academic training programs, Miller earned a master’s degree in environmental health and safety management and later a second master’s degree in health physics. Both programs were largely funded through professional development initiatives.
“That support made a big difference,” he said. “It allowed me to grow technically and prepare for the next level.” Opportunities didn’t stop at the classroom. Cross-district collaboration through USACE’s health physics community gave Miller exposure to diverse projects and mentors. Temporary details and leadership opportunities eventually led him to supervise the Environmental Health Section and, in 2023, to become Environmental Branch Chief in the Buffalo District.
For Miller, USACE’s willingness to invest in its people is a defining strength.
“There are opportunities to try new things, to take on details, to expand your skill set,” he said. “That’s not something you see everywhere.”
Combined with the professional growth and the collaborative working environment, Miller said the mission has kept him in place.
“We’re cleaning up legacy sites in communities — sometimes places that have been waiting decades for answers,” he said. “We’re not a company doing this for profit. We’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do.”
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Health physics may be an obscure field to outsiders, but within USACE it is indispensable.
“These projects affect communities, workers and the environment for generations,” Fatherly said. “Health physicists help us do the right thing — and prove that we did.”
From former nuclear sites to decommissioned power plants, from emergency response to long-term remediation, USACE health physicists operate where risk, uncertainty and public concern intersect. Their work protects people who may never know their names but who benefit every day from their expertise.
| Date Taken: | 04.09.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 04.09.2026 11:59 |
| Story ID: | 562342 |
| Location: | HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
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