March 2006

ALUMNI PROFILE

Nobel Laureate Toasts Colleagues, International Agency for Excellence

It’s safe to say that Eric Weinstein, CAS/BA ’70, reacted positively when he learned that he and his peers at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria would share the honor of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. Weinstein never thought he would know a Nobel Laureate, let alone become one.

The former medieval history major and psych minor from Highland Park, N.J. had barely retired from a 30+ year career at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2004 to become a full-time winemaker when he bumped into a former colleague at a conference who invited him to work at the IAEA in Vienna. Now, less than a year since he moved his wife and three kids to Europe, he is among more than 2,000 IAEA employees to share the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in protecting the world from nuclear accidents.

“My guess is the Nobel committee wanted to reward the agency for its good work promoting safety worldwide,” says Weinstein. “Obviously there are people who’ve been here a long time who’ve contributed... We all share in this very prestigious award.”

Weinstein began his nuclear safety career in 1976, just one year after the NRC was formed, and following his first job upon graduation from AU declassifying World War II documents at the National Archives. “Then Three Mile Island happened (in 1979) and it defined my career. I got involved in nuclear emergency planning, and as a result I started a program to work with states throughout the U.S. in preparing for a nuclear accident at a commercial power plant.”

Today, he works with 55 operating power plants and research reactors all over the world to promote the safety of nuclear installations. “As you can imagine, there’s quite a variance of how nations deal with this. Some nations, like France, have made a major commitment to nuclear energy – it represents about 80 percent of the power they generate and use.” In contrast, only about 20 percent of the United States' power is generated from nuclear power, he notes. “We really haven’t built [a plant] since Three Mile Island.”

Countries like Russia or Armenia, where there have been problems but improvements are being made, face a dilemma, explains Weinstein. “Do you shut down the plant and deny your population of the energy generated by it, which includes heat, knowing people could die? Or do you continue to operate and try to improve safety while operating? You have to deal with a whole spectrum.”

Despite his years in the industry, Weinstein says the nuclear safety industry continues to hold great interest for him because of its many technical and political aspects. “It also speaks to where we’re going in the world because the world is never going to say ‘we need less energy,’” he says.

Weinstein plans to put his energy back into Crush and Stomp, his Baltimore-based winemaking business, this August when he and his family return to their home in Chevy Chase, Md. Fortunately, he has had plenty of time to explore Vienna and discover some new wines during his time abroad. "Vienna, interestingly enough, is the largest wine producing city in the world,” he notes. Small restaurants that produce their own wine called heuringers, are abundant, excelling in whites,” he says. Riesling anyone?

-Melissa Reichley

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