As a young chemistry student at the University of Wollongong in the late 1990s, the last thing Robert Blackley expected was that within a couple of years he would be digging around in the dirt in Southeast Asia to recover a high-activity radioactive source, buried underground.
Robert had planned a career in water or soil chemistry. A dearth of openings in those fields led him into what he thought would be a temporary role as a radiation safety technician with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), which operates the nuclear research reactor at Lucas Heights in southern Sydney.
It turned out to be the start of a long and varied career that has made him, not just an expert in nuclear and radiological safety, but a legend in his chosen field.
But there have been some very interesting moments along the way. As part of a program in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Robert often found himself in scrapyards, underground bunkers and remote hospitals searching for and recovering orphaned radioactive sources. This is how he came to be digging in the ground to identify and safely manage a high activity teletherapy source, once used in cancer treatment, which had been buried in the middle of a field.
Life also got interesting in 2003, when Robert found himself in front of the damaged Chernobyl power reactor in Ukraine, armed with his Geiger counter, taking measurements as part of an international monitoring program.
About a third of the way into his 23-year career with ANSTO, Robert switched streams and took charge of the commercial team in ANSTO that provided radiological safety services to outside clients.
It took Robert to projects across the world. But perhaps the most interesting was in his own country, as part of the Australian Government expert team that managed emergency response whenever a nuclear-powered US submarine or aircraft carrier was docked at a Royal Australian Navy base in Australia.
Joining Tellus in February last year as General Manager, Radiological Sales, Robert recognised the value of what Tellus was contributing to industry through the safe disposal of low-level radioactive waste, and saw it as an opportunity to make a difference.
“Our mission is to provide the best disposal solution for long-running waste problems or hazards,” he says.
Meanwhile, his experience with visiting nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers means Tellus is well positioned to share its radiation safety management capabilities as Australia moves towards operating nuclear-powered submarines under the trilateral AUKUS security partnership.
“People don’t realise how much is involved in the whole pipeline of nuclear submarines, in terms of support facilities, regulators, trained personnel and so on,” he says.
“It is a big and daunting thing to be implemented. It needs to be done correctly, but it is within our grasp.
“No-one in Australia has more operating experience in these areas than Tellus.”
Image is of Robert Blackley in front of the disabled Fukushima reactor in 2011.