HISTORY     HOW RAC WORKS     CLIENTS In 1977 John E. Till, PhD, founded Risk Assessment Corporation, which was incorporated in the state of South Carolina in 1979. At that time, the corporation was called Radiological Assessments Corporation, reflecting its focus on radiological issues. In those early days, RAC’s work included research on the environmental transport and fate of materials such as tritium, carbon-14, and technicium-99. During this period, John co-edited Radiological Assessment, published by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It was the first comprehensive textbook describing methods for environmental risk analysis. RAC also focused on the development of user-friendly software for predicting concentrations of radioactive materials and chemicals in the environment. MICROAIRDOS ©, DECOM © and DECHEM were early prototypes of software now widely used in risk assessment. In 1988 John was appointed chair of the Technical Steering Panel that was responsible for directing the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project (HEDR). Under his leadership, HEDR was instrumental in helping lift the shroud of secrecy that enveloped the nuclear weapons complex in the U.S. For the first time, the public was given access to information about the facilities’ activities and the analysis that characterized the magnitude and duration of radioactive releases into the environment, as well as the human exposures and health effects that would have occurred. RAC went on to complete a dose reconstruction for the Fernald Feed Materials Plant in Ohio and for the Rocky Flats Plant near Denver, Colorado, as well as the early phases of the dose reconstruction for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho. As these studies progressed, it became clear that significant quantities of chemicals were also used and released into the environment at these facilities, so that the scope of later dose reconstruction studies broadened to address the impact of these releases too. On May 1, 1998, the corporation’s name was changed to Risk Assessment Corporation to more accurately reflect its expanded mission to address both radionuclides and chemicals in the environment. More recently, RAC has focused on applying its skills to address present-day issues. These include:     •  establishing a robust approach to determine soil clean-up levels for the Rocky Flats site     •  conducting a series of independent audits of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to determine compliance with the Clean Air Act     •  analyzing the exposure and risks to the public from radionuclides and chemicals released by the Cerro Grande Fire at Los Alamos in May 2000     •  establishing a process to work with stakeholders and decision makers to identify and reduce risks from contaminated sources     •  independent calculations of exposures and doses to plaintiffs in a number of legal cases RAC is incorporated in South Carolina. John Till is the President and Helen Grogan is the executive officer. It is a consortium of independent consultants, each called on when their skills match the needs of a project.This format allows RAC to obtain the skills of talented scientists who may contribute to projects on a part- or full-time basis, and are free to live and work where they choose. Each team member may pursue work on other fronts and for other organizations as long as it does not present a conflict of interest. That said, for most team members, RAC activities are their primary source of income. One of John’s goals has been to minimize the bureaucratic and overhead costs of a large organization. Each team member signs a contract with RAC for each project they are anticipated to work on. John is responsible for the overall management of the team. Helen manages the technical aspects of projects and provides John with assistance. Although team members live in many different parts of the U.S., they meet regularly at project locations to collect information and discuss technical methods. The team also meets at least three times a year for a number of days to discuss each project under contract, evaluate progress, and make team business decisions. Our clients represent educational, government, and private organizations, including:     •  Battelle Memorial Institute     •  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention     •  Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment     •  Colorado State University     •  Department of Justice     •  DOW Chemical Company     •  E. I. DuPont Corporation     •  Environmental Protection Agency     •  National Cancer Institute     •  New Mexico Environment Department     •  Nuclear Regulatory Commission     •  Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences     •  Rocky Flats Citizen's Advisory Board     •  San Ildefonso Pueblo     •  Three-Mile Island Public Health Fund     •  University of Tennessee-Battelle, Oak Ridge National Laboratory   HOME    COMPANY    STAFF    SKILLS    PROJECTS    PUBLICATIONS    NEWS    CONTACT 417 Till Road  •  Neeses, South Carolina 29107 T 803.536.4883  •  F 803.534.1955  •  E info@racteam.com © 2007 Risk Assessment Corporation. All rights reserved.