| B. John Garrick | |
| Birth Name: | B. John Garrick |
| Birth Date: | 5 March 1930 |
| Birth Place: | Tintic, Utah |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California |
| Alma Mater: | Brigham Young University (BS) University of California, Los Angeles (MS) University of California, Los Angeles (PhD) |
| Known For: | Probabilistic Risk Assessment |
| Work Institution: | Holmes and Narver, Inc. PLG, Inc. UCLA Samueli School of Engineering |
| Field: | Nuclear Engineering, Risk Sciences |
B. John Garrick (March 5, 1930 – November 1, 2020) was an American engineer who contributed to the field of risk sciences, particularly in probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). He founded PLG, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in probabilistic risk assessment and management of technological systems.[1]
Garrick was born in Tintic, Utah, on March 5, 1930. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Brigham Young University in 1952. His early career included a position as a physicist at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant, where he developed an interest in risk sciences related to nuclear power.[2]
Garrick attended the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology for a one-year graduate course on nuclear energy. He later worked at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, reviewing the safety of nuclear reactors. He pursued advanced studies at UCLA, earning an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering in 1962 and a Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Sciences in 1968. His doctoral thesis focused on quantifying risk in nuclear power plants.[3]
Garrick founded PLG, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in probabilistic risk assessment and management. The firm conducted assessments for nuclear power plants, chemical plants, transportation systems, space systems, and defense systems. PLG was acquired in 1993, and Garrick retired in 1997 but continued to work as an independent consultant.[4] [5]
In 1981, B. John Garrick and Stan Kaplan published a paper in the journal Risk Analysis, formalizing the concepts of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). The paper introduced the "risk triplet" as an answer to three questions: What can go wrong? What is the likelihood? What are the consequences?[6]
Garrick authored numerous publications on PRA, including a book on "Quantifying and Controlling Catastrophic Risks."[7]
Garrick was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1993 for his work in making quantitative risk assessment an applied science. He served on several high-profile advisory committees and boards, including the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste.[8] [9]
Garrick's contributions to risk assessment and nuclear science earned him the 2019 W. Bennett Lewis Award for Sustainable Energy and Development from the American Nuclear Society. He was a fellow of the American Nuclear Society, the Society for Risk Analysis, and the Institute for the Advancement of Engineering.
In 2014, Garrick and his wife Amelia donated $9 million to UCLA to establish the B. John Garrick Institute for the Risk Sciences.[10]