Dr Steven Bell is a Senior Scientist in the Nuclear Metrology Group at NPL. Steven joined NPL in 2014 after working for four years at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory within the Detector Development Group.
Steven is a graduate of the University of Surrey, where he attained a BSc in Physics, an MSc in Radiation Detection and Instrumentation, and an Engineering Doctorate. The subject of his EngD thesis was the fabrication and characterisation of small-pixel CdZnTe X/γ-ray imaging detectors.
Steven is currently responsible for the NPL Radioactive Gas Metrology Lab, overseeing the development of capability and research in areas such as radioactive gas standards, environmental monitoring and instrument calibration. He has been work package lead in five European metrology research projects covering nuclear decommissioning, radiation protection and nuclear preparedness. Steven’s recent work includes developing calibration standards for sub-criticality monitoring of fuel debris at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP. He is a member of BSI/NCE2 (Radiation protection and measurement), ISO/TC85/SC2/WG14 (Radiological protection: Air control and monitoring) and IEC/TC45/WG18 (Nuclear instrumentation: Mobile unmanned automated systems for nuclear and radiological applications).
Current research interests:
- Short-lived radioactive gas standards (radioxenon, radiokrypton, radioargon)
- Nuclear fuel and sub-criticality monitoring
- Nuclear weapons test monitoring (CTBT)
- Nuclear preparedness (air monitoring, UAV mounted detector systems, citizen science)
- C-14 laser spectrometry for GHG and NPP emission monitoring
- Tritium and hydrogen isotopologue measurements for nuclear fusion industry
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