David Glasgow, Ph.D., is a scientist listed on the State of Florida’s witness list. He is referenced in the report on air monitoring results as having obtained the control carpet samples from a similar Pontiac Sunfire that was located in a junkyard in Knoxville, Tennessee. Dr. Glasgow’s work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) appears to be centered around utilizing the High-Flux Isotope Reactor (HIFER) and he is listed in one source as Laboratory Manager for the Delayed Neutron Activation Analysis (DNAA) lab at ORNL. Dr. Glasgow’s work appears to encompass a wide range of applying of Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) in various efforts from investigating alternative fissile materials to forensics in criminal cases.
The High-Flux Isotope Reactor at ORNL is described as being “the highest flux reactor-based neutron source for condensed matter research in the United States”. Neutron scattering techniques, according ORNL, are proving themselves to be “instrumental tools for studying the structure and dynamics of materials at the molecular level.” Dr. Glasgow’s work in reference to HIFER capabilities and forensics is described in a Rational Enquirer article as:
HIFER’s neutron-scattering capabilities are often employed in forensics, providing for the analysis of microscopic shards of evidence. The HIFER lab reviewed samples from the John F. Kennedy assassination; more recently its researchers scrutinized material samples from a triple homicide at Taco Bell in Clarksville, verifying that a small piece of plastic embedded in the killer’s shirt was indeed a souvenir from the crime scene.
“Neutron science is a way of finding the proverbial needle in the haystack,” grins Glasgow, one of several HIFER scientists, explaining the appeal of his chosen field. “Neutrons are pretty good things when you get to know them, and we’ve got plenty of ‘em here.”
Concerning the power of Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), Dr. Glasgow states in the abstract of a paper he presented at the southeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society in 2008 that NAA is extremely important to forensics because it can address the challenging task of comparative analysis of “two subtly different materials”.
Dr. Glasgow authored a paper entitled Delayed neutron activation of analysis for safeguards which he presented at the Methods and Applications of Radioanalytical Chemistry (MARC)-VII Conference in 2006. Dr. Glasgow is co-author on a paper entitled Research Activities on Neutronics under ASTE Collaboration at AGS/BNL covering a series of experiments on a mercury spallation target on which a high-peak-power proton-beam at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) located at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) was utilized. The paper covers the neutronic performance of the mercury target. This paper was presented at the International Conference on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology in Japan in 2001. Dr. Glasgow has also co-authored a paper entitled Description of the Post Irradiation sample preparation for activated samples which covers the proper procedure for sample preparation of activated samples from a research reactor to ensure reproducible recovery efficiency. Dr. Glasgow is also co-author of a paper entitled Measurements of Activation Reaction rate distributions on a mercury target bombarded with high-energy protons at AGS which covers work performed in conjunction with the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.
Dr. Glasgow is cited in the acknowledgment section of several papers for his contributions to efforts. These papers include: Analysis of U/Th spiked Sample UA30, activated at MIT 3/21/2001 22:26 for 5 hours; a paper presented at the MARC conference in 1997 entitled Biomedical Neutron Research at the Californium user Facility for Neutron Science; and a thesis paper on Neutronic effects on Tungsten-186 Double neutron capture.
Valhall.
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