Edwin Lyman

{{short description|American physicist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Edwin S. Lyman | image = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | residence = | field = Physics, Nuclear power and safety issues | work_institutions = Union of Concerned Scientists, Nuclear Control Institute, Princeton University | alma_mater = New York University, Cornell University |doctoral_advisor = | awards = Leo Szilard Lectureship Award }}

{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage= | video1 = [https://www.ucsusa.org/about/people/edwin-lyman “Edwin Lyman”], Union of Concerned Scientists |video2=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyHNkBOT5I8 Debating nuclear risks with Ed Lyman], The Rational View, April 24, 2021 |video3= [https://www.c-span.org/video/?459247-6/washington-journal-edwin-lyman-discusses-nuclear-power-safety Edwin Lyman on Nuclear Power Safety], C-SPAN/Washington Journal, March 31, 2019 |video4= [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XibS-W_loJ0 UCS Senior Scientist Edwin Lyman explains the nuclear crisis in Japan], Rachel Maddow show, March 11, 2011 -- Lyman starts around 6 minutes. }}

'''Edwin S. Lyman''' is a physicist and the Director of Nuclear Power Safety with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). He specializes in nuclear proliferation, nuclear terrorism, and nuclear power safety.<ref name="UCS">{{cite web |title=Edwin Lyman |url=https://www.ucsusa.org/about/people/edwin-lyman |website=Union of Concerned Scientists |access-date=22 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

Lyman has published extensively in journals and magazines, testified before Congress and advised other government groups, and been cited in many news stories. He acted as an expert analyst for damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami<ref name="APS"/> and co-authored ''Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster'' (New Press, 2014).<ref name="Szilard"/>

==Education== Lyman earned his A.B. in physics at New York University in 1986. At Cornell University he received his M.Sc. in 1990 and his Ph.D. in physics in 1992.<ref name="Szilard"/><ref name="Docket"/> He focused on string theory and high energy physics, preferring research with few military applications.<ref name="APS">{{cite web |title=Profiles in Versatility |url=https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201611/profiles.cfm |website=American Physical Society |access-date=23 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==Career== From 1992 to 1995, Lyman did postdoctoral research on science and security policy at Princeton University in the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies (later the Science and Global Security Program). One of the questions he considered was how to deal with post-Cold War plutonium. He and his colleagues sought ways to turn it into a stable waste form for disposal.<ref name="APS"/><ref name="Szilard"/>

From 1995 to 2003, Lyman worked for the Nuclear Control Institute, where he promoted conversion of reactors from highly enriched to low-enriched uranium, which is not directly weapon-usable. He also advised on the protection of nuclear sites from terrorist attacks. He became president of the Institute in 2001.<ref name="APS"/><ref name="Szilard"/>

In 2003, Lyman joined the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) as a senior scientist<ref name="Szilard"/> later becoming the Director of Nuclear Power Safety.<ref name="UCS"/>

Lyman publishes extensively in journals and magazines, and has advised Congress and other government groups on a variety of topics relating to nuclear power, nuclear weapons and safety.<ref name="Docket">{{cite web |last1=Lyman |first1=Edwin S. |title=Docket before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board |url=https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1814/ML18141A892.pdf |website=United States of America Nuclear Regulatory Commission|date=May 21, 2018 |access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref> He has recommended that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) implement safety and security upgrades to prevent the possibility of terrorist attacks.<ref name="Lyman"/><ref name="Sforza">{{cite news |last1=Sforza |first1=Teri |title=How are America’s nuclear plants protected from attack? |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2022/03/04/how-are-americas-nuclear-plants-protected-from-attack/ |access-date=23 March 2022 |work=Orange County Register |date=5 March 2022}}</ref> Given the events of September 11 he describes NRC delays in doing so an "ominous trend".<ref name="Lyman">{{cite news |last1=Lyman |first1=Ed |title=Ominous Votes by the NRC |url=http://allthingsnuclear.org/elyman/ominous-votes-by-the-nrc |access-date=22 March 2022 |work=All Things Nuclear |date=23 October 2015}}</ref>

Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami Lyman served as an expert analyst on damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.<ref name="APS"/> He is a co-author with David Lochbaum and Susan Q. Stranahan of ''Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster'' (New Press, 2014).<ref name="Szilard"/><ref name="APS"/>

Lyman is a member of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management and the American Nuclear Society.<ref name="Szilard"/>

==Awards== In 2018, Lyman was awarded the 2018 Leo Szilard Lectureship Award from the American Physical Society "for using his technical expertise and tireless advocacy to maintain and strengthen U.S. policy on nuclear nonproliferation and reactor safety and security."<ref name="Szilard">{{cite web |title=Prize Recipient |url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Lyman&first_nm=Edwin&year=2018 |website=American Physical Society |access-date=23 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Award">{{cite news |title=UCS Senior Scientist Wins American Physical Society’s Leo Szilard Lectureship Award |url=https://www.ucsusa.org/about/news/ucs-senior-scientist-wins-american-physical-societys-leo-szilard-lectureship-award |access-date=23 March 2022 |work=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=October 24, 2017 |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyman, Edwin}} Category:21st-century American physicists Category:People associated with nuclear power Category:Living people Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people)