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Chief Scientist's Notes: NMT Researchers Nurture the Year-Old Actinide Research Quarterly

This issue, the fifth publication of the Actinide Research Quarterly, marks its first-year anniversary. If you have followed the past issues, you will have noticed significant improvements in both the contents and appearance of the newsletter. We are still experimenting to find out how best to create a newsletter suitable for NMT. From the beginning it was meant to evolve through NMT members' participation. A newsletter is in some sense like a living plant. A plant is constantly absorbing essential elements to synthesize nutrients for its growth, constantly trying to adapt to its changing environment, and constantly in need of nurturing. In its own way, the Actinide Research Quarterly has the same needs as that plant!

During the past year we have covered eleven scientific and technical articles, two work teams' profiles, and lists of numerous publications and reports by NMT members. The invention disclosed in one of the technical articles in the second issue received an R&D 100 Award in 1995. Additionally, other newsworthy events and NMT members' activities on the scientific and technical front were reported. We printed 600 copies of the first issue and about 750 of the latest one. This increase is due largely to a demand for copies outside the Laboratory, an indication that our work is gaining some external publicity.

A newsletter needs a supportive and informed readership for its existence. Two areas need special attention: one is the need for publishing a newsletter that communicates our science and technology research efforts more effectively to our primary audience-internal readers-and secondarily to our external readers as their interest in our work increases. The other need is for NMT members to nurture the newsletter with contributed articles and news inputs. Their contributions to the newsletter and their informed readership should have a synergistic effect. Science and technology, in the right environment, is constantly being renewed. Many NMT enthusiasts, this Chief Scientist among them, believe that even after having published a dozen or so technical highlights, information about the wealth of NMT's scientific resources has not been exhausted.

Just as in our inaugural issue, this anniversary issue shows photo highlights of the annual NMT Division Review. To some of us who helped launch the newsletter a year ago, this issue marks a new beginning. For now, this is a time to pause, to reminisce, to celebrate a bit (without much fanfare), and, most importantly, to thank you all who have contributed articles and news items, and those who have provided many valuable ideas. Special thanks are owed to the CIC-1 writer/editors, Ann Mauzy and Chris Pearcy, and to our invaluable design and production person, Susan Carlson. Congratulations to all of you for having done such a wonderful job in supporting this worthwhile endeavor.



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