Corporate History
Plexus-NSD began its life in 1994 as Integrated Environmental Management, Inc. (IEM). It was founded by professionals with diverse and relevant operational and regulatory experience, prominent standing within the engineering and consulting industry, and a global (yet realistic) view of regulatory drivers. Each had in-depth knowledge of policy-making matters, long years of technical and management experience, and a broad understanding of the type and quality of services the environmental industry has to offer. They had combined an understanding of market demands, professional experience and achievements, and a conservative approach to problem-solving to assist their clients in formulating their regulatory compliance programs in a manner that is both cost effective and consistent with their operating philosophy. The following is a brief description of the organization’s founders:
Carol D. Berger
Carol is certified by the American Board of Health Physics and has almost 40 years experience in nuclear activities with emphasis in strategic planning, radiation dosimetry, instrumentation, and applied health physics. She is Past-President of the American Academy of Health Physics, a past member of the Panel of Examiners for the American Board of Health Physics, a Fellow Member of the Health Physics Society, the third recipient of the AAHP’s Joyce P. Davis Award and is a recognized expert in the fields of external and internal dosimetry, participating on ANSI, ASTM, and NCRP committees for establishing radiation protection and dosimetry standards. She is also a technical reviewer for Health Physics and Radiation Protection Dosimetry.
Carol served as the head of the Radiation Dosimetry Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and was a member of the Health Physics and Dosimetry Task Group for the President’s Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. She has prepared detailed site investigation reports and decontamination and decommissioning plans for major materials handling and manufacturing facilities; has conducted dose/risk assessments for facilities contaminated with naturally- occurring radioactive material (NORM), byproduct material, activation products, source material, and special nuclear material; and has developed and delivered training on a variety of topics to USNRC inspectors, materials licensees, nuclear power plant operations personnel, public school teachers, and members of the general public.
Brian A. Kelly
A Professional Engineer and a Certified Health Physicist, Brian had many years of experience in management of hazardous and radioactive waste (air, water, and solid waste media). He was the Past-President of the East Tennessee Chapter of the Health Physics Society and offered our firm an in-depth knowledge of policy- making matters, long years of technical and management experience, a broad understanding of the type and quality of services the environmental industry has to offer, a demonstrable track record of solving compliance and legal problems to the benefit of clients, and widely-solicited skills in training and education.
Brian supported risk assessment activities for Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study programs at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Fernald Environmental Management Project, and the Nevada Test Site; developed decontamination and decommissioning plans for three facilities at Sandia National Laboratory; developed dose-based criteria for the placement of HEPA filters at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant; conducted dose/risk assessments for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) environmental impact statement and for routine and accidental emissions from the Feed Material Production Center (later called the Fernald Environmental Management Project). He also successfully managed major environmental upgrades at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, and assisted in the successful licensing of innovative waste processing technologies for commercial applications.
Sadly, Brian passed away on June 24, 2002 after a brief illness. However, his contribution to the organization and its mission lives on.
Merger with Plexus
On January 1, 2015, IEM merged with Plexus Scientific Corporation (Plexus). Plexus is also a small business, and IEM had been partnering with them on projects for quite a number of years prior to the merger. Not only did the two companies have a similar corporate culture, but Plexus also has operations that are certified to the ISO 9001:2008 international quality standard, meaning both firms made demonstrable commitments to quality and customer service.
For a short period of time after the merger, IEM operated as a subsidiary of Plexus, meaning the personnel, licenses, services and business approach our clients relied upon for more than 20 years did not change. What did change is that, in addition to the radiation-related consulting and services the organization had always been able to provide, we could then offer other environmental capabilities that we previously had to subcontract in order to best serve our client’s needs.
In mid-2015 the organization became an operating division within Plexus, and proudly began its new life as Plexus-NSD. However, more changes are sure to come. To learn more about the merger, please see the press release. For information about Plexus and their excellent non-radiological capabilities, please visit their web site.