Our 2009 Users’ Group in Henderson, Nevada enjoyed record-breaking attendance. The meeting was held at the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort and featured two days of training sessions, excellent industry speakers and breakout sessions about CANBERRA solutions, demos and special events.
A highlight of the training days was a very interesting field exercise led by the 92nd Civil Support team. We are grateful to them for their time and effort. This demo simulated three “real-life” scenarios involving radiological agents, using live radioactive/nuclear materials.
The official Users’ Group Meeting was kicked off with our casino-themed welcome reception in the beautiful Lotus Court. Our first General Session day featured Dr. Patrick Moore as the keynote speaker. Dr. Moore is the Chair & Chief Scientist of Greenspirit Strategies and founder and former President of Greenpeace. His presentation about the myths and misinformation that distort current environmental debate was fascinating and very well received by all attendees. Our second general session day featured Tom Christopher, Vice Chairman of AREVA, Inc. as the keynote speaker. Mr. Christopher delivered an excellent presentation about the challenges and changes in the nuclear industry over the last 35 years.
Our panel discussion this year was about promoting safety and security in nuclear power. In addition to Dr. Moore and Mr. Christopher, the illustrious panelists were Howard Dickson, President Elect of the Health Physics Society, Paul Seidler, Director of the NEI in Nevada, and Gary Hollis, the Nye County Commissioner and chief Yucca Mountain liaison.
CANBERRA’s new product introductions included Apex-InVivo™ and Apex-Alpha/Beta™ software and the Osprey™ digital tube base. The demo room featured these products as well as Cronos object/tool and Argos whole-body contamination monitors, Cryo-cycle™, 3D ISOCS™ and Falcon 5000®, just to name a few.
Our memorable group dinner took place in the Andalusian Gardens with acrobatic performers, raffles and lots of fun. We hope you found the 2009 CANBERRA Users’ Group productive, informative and enjoyable. See you next year in Boston!
