James Reilly Honored With R&D Award

James J. Reilly, a retired chemist from Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been honored with a 2006 Department of Energy Hydrogen Program R&D Award in recognition of his lifetime contributions to hydrogen storage research and development. The award was presented at DOE's annual review of Brookhaven's hydrogen program in May.

Reilly's early work at Brookhaven involved the development of methods for reprocessing nuclear fuel and the permanent storage of radioactive wastes. In later years, he was concerned with the properties and applications of metal hydrides, preparation and characterization of metal hydrides for battery applications, and preparation of nanocomposite materials via hydrogen-driven metallurgical reactions.

Reilly has been "instrumental in guiding Brookhaven's investigation of alanes, aluminum hydride materials that could be used to store hydrogen on board a fuel-cell-powered vehicle," said colleague Jason Graetz.