Speakers
Speakers
Mr. Irfan Ali
Managing Director
Energy Innovation Reform Project (EIRP)
Irfan Ali is Managing Director of EIRP. With an extensive record in the field of technology, Irfan offers a unique combination of executive management, technical and marketing skills. A professed technologist, he has a passion for bringing new, innovative technology to the market in the form of products and solutions that address complex, contemporary problems. Irfan was President & CEO of Advanced Reactor Concepts (ARC) from 2009 to 2015. Prior to joining ARC, Irfan was President and CEO of Lambda OpticalSystems, a venture-backed startup building high-end optical networking equipment. Before Lambda, Irfan was President of CommWorks Corporation, a 3Com company. At CommWorks, Irfan had complete responsibility for all aspects of the business, growing its revenues to $770 million per year. Irfan holds an MS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. He was also a founding member of the ATM Forum.
Dr. Christina (Tina) Back
Vice President, Nuclear Technologies and Materials
General Atomics
Dr. Christina Back is Vice President of Nuclear Technologies and Materials at General Atomics. She is responsible for the nuclear fission programs, which focus on development of advanced nuclear reactors for electric power, production of isotopes for medical uses, and fabrication of Accident Tolerant Fuel rods for safer nuclear reactors.
She earned her B.S. in physics from Yale University, and her Ph.D. in plasma physics from the University of Florida. As an experimental physicist, she spent two years at the Ecole Polytechnique LULI laser facility in France, and over fifteen years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory performing research on the Nova, Omega, and NIF high-powered lasers in the Inertial Confinement Fusion and High Energy Density Science programs. Moving to General Atomics, Dr. Back became the High Energy Density Science Program Leader in the Inertial Fusion Technologies division, developing specialized materials and characterization techniques. Pursuit of new engineered materials led to work in fission on the Energy Multiplier Module, EM2, a high temperature gas-cooled reactor.
Dr. Back is an internationally recognized in fission and fusion research with over 25 years of experience in private industry and U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories. She has over 100 publications in areas such as radiative heating, opacity, x-ray conversion efficiency, spectroscopy, hohlraum physics, charged-particle diagnostics, and materials synthesis. She regularly serves on committees for the National Academy of Sciences, National Nuclear Security Administration, and the DOE, and is frequently invited to provide expertise for U.S. Congressional Committees and White House Science and Technology initiatives.
For her contributions, Dr. Back was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society and has received numerous awards, including DOE Technical Excellence and Defense Nuclear Sciences Awards for radiation transport. In 2013, she was named Woman of the Year in Business by the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. M. Katherine Banks
Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering
Director, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
University Distinguished Professor
Harold J. Haynes Dean's Chair Professor
Texas A&M University
Dr. M. Katherine Banks is the vice chancellor for engineering for The Texas A&M University System and dean at the Texas A&M University College of Engineering.
As vice chancellor, Banks oversees coordination and collaboration among the engineering, academic and research programs at seven universities throughout the A&M System, as well as three state agencies: the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). Banks also is TEES director, overseeing research administration of more than 4,800 projects and $208 million in sponsored research awards.
As dean of the college of engineering, University Distinguished Professor and holder of the Harold J. Haynes Dean's Chair in Engineering, Banks leads one of the largest engineering schools in the country, with more than 19,000 students and 600 faculty. Dr. Banks initiated the 25 by 25 program, a controlled enrollment growth program with a goal of 25,000 engineering students by 2025.
Banks was previously the Bowen Engineering Head for the School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University and the Jack and Kay Hockema Professor at Purdue. She received her B.S.E. from the University of Florida, M.S.E. from the University of North Carolina, and Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Duke University.
Banks is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. She has received numerous awards including the ASCE Petersen Outstanding Woman of the Year Award, ASCE Rudolph Hering Medal, Purdue Faculty Scholar Award, Sloan Foundation Mentoring Fellowship and the American Association of University Women Fellowship.
Dr. Rita Baranwal
Director, Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN)
Idaho National Laboratory
Dr. Rita Baranwal joined INL's Nuclear Science & Technology directorate in August 2016 as the director for the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative.
Baranwal most recently served as the director of Technology Development and Application at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Cranberry, Pennsylvania. In that position, she led the creation and development of game-changing technologies and managed characterization and hot cell laboratories to support Westinghouse, its customers and the nuclear power industry. Her previous positions at Westinghouse included director of Core Engineering and manager of Materials and Fuel Rod Design. Prior to joining Westinghouse, she was a manager in the Materials Technology organization at Bechtel Bettis, Inc.
Baranwal was an adjunct faculty member of University of South Carolina's nuclear engineering graduate program from 2010-2012. She holds two patents for materials engineering technology and has co-authored publications related to characterization of irradiation and fabrication process effects on material microstructure and properties. She received her bachelor's degree from MIT in materials science and engineering and her master's degree and Ph.D. in the same discipline from the University of Michigan. She also completed an executive management program at Duquesne University's Beard Institute in 2009.
Baranwal has been an active American Nuclear Society member since 2008 and currently serves on the ANS Materials Science and Technology Division Executive Committee. She also serves on the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters in Pittsburgh and was recently elected to serve on the board of directors for North Hills Community Outreach.
Mr. David Blee
Executive Director
U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council
David Blee serves as Executive Director of the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council – the leading business consortium advocate for new nuclear energy and the involvement of the U.S. supply chain globally. The Council represents more than 80 companies comprising the “Who’s Who” of nuclear energy across a broad mix of the American supply chain, including key mover utilities, M&Os, manufacturers, suppliers and services companies.
Mr. Blee’s public service experience includes his current appointment on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee and past appointments as a Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy and Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Energy – and as Chief of Staff to former U.S. Senator Connie Mack, during his service in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Prior to his current assignments, Mr. Blee was an Executive Vice President for NAC International, a U.S.-based energy services and technology company, where he directed the company’s Worldwide Consulting Group and Marketing & Business Development portfolios. Mr. Blee was previously a Senior Vice President for the Wall Street-Washington DC-based Robinson, Lake, Lerer and Montgomery, a strategic communications firm.
Mr. Harlan Bowers
President
X-energy
As president of X-energy, Harlan defines corporate strategy, implementation and oversees the development of a smaller, safer, next-generation nuclear reactor that expands reliable, zero-emission nuclear energy into entirely new markets. Harlan has over 32 years of experience managing very large, complex new business initiatives and highly technical engineering development programs. Much of his background has involved aerospace systems projects with NASA and commercial customers, as well as engineering services contracts up to $750M in value. Harlan has managed 50+ large proposal efforts for contracts with the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, United States Geological Survey, and the Internal Revenue Service. His most recent responsibilities were with Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies (SGT) where he was Senior Vice President, Business Development, achieving new contract bookings of $1.36B for 2014 and 2015. Prior to that, he was VP/Program Manager for a $130M/year NASA engineering services contract, delivering systems for Hubble Space Telescope servicing, satellite remote sensing, and International Space Station operations. Harlan received a B.S. in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Hon. Stephen G. Burns
Commissioner
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Honorable Stephen G. Burns was sworn in as a Commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on November 5, 2014, to a term ending June 30, 2019. He served as the 16th Chairman of the NRC from Jan. 1, 2015, through Jan. 23, 2017. As a Commissioner, he continues to be engaged in the work of the agency, and its safety and security mission.
Commissioner Burns has had a distinguished career as an attorney both within the NRC and internationally. Before returning to the NRC, he was the Head of Legal Affairs of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris. In that position, which he held since April 2012, Commissioner Burns provided legal advice and support to NEA management, carried out the legal education and publications program of the NEA, and provided advice and secretariat services to the Nuclear Law Committee and to the Contracting Parties to the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy.
Commissioner Burns joined the NRC as an attorney in 1978. Prior to assuming his post at the NEA, he served as General Counsel of the NRC from May 2009 until April 2012 after having served as the NRC's Deputy General Counsel from 1998. He also served as Executive Assistant to former NRC Chairman Kenneth M. Carr.
Commissioner Burns received a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, in 1975 from Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. He received his law degree with honors in 1978 from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he was an editor on the George Washington Law Review.
Commissioner Burns received the NRC's Distinguished Service Award in 2001 and the Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award in 1998 and 2008.
Mr. Ken Canavan
Chief Technology Officer
Westinghouse Electric Company
Ken Canavan was appointed chief technology officer (CTO) of Westinghouse Electric Company on January 2, 2018. Westinghouse’s CTO role has strategic responsibility to drive next-generation technology and innovation solutions that align with the company’s global business strategy. As CTO Canavan leads these efforts, as well as strengthens Westinghouse with regard to technology leadership development.
Canavan, 53, previously was director of engineering for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). There he was responsible for turning industry needs into compelling research and development plans. These plans improved safety and performance of the global nuclear fleet. He has more than 30 years of experience in key engineering and risk management roles. Prior to his work at EPRI, Canavan was responsible for risk applications at Data Systems and Solutions, ERIN Engineering and Research and GPU Nuclear. He also was a safety analysis engineer with Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Ohio (USA).
Canavan has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, with a nuclear engineering minor, from Manhattan College, New York.
Dr. Ron Faibish
Senior Director of Business Development,
Nuclear Technologies and Materials
General Atomics
Dr. Ron S. Faibish has more than 20 years experience in the government energy and science sectors, including extensive work within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory complex and other government functions.
Dr. Faibish leads business development for General Atomics’ Nuclear Technologies and Materials (NTM) Division, managing strategic planning and stakeholder engagement for fission-related products, such as the Energy Multiplier Module, istope production and the Accident Tolerant Fuels program.
Prior to joining General Atomics, Dr. Faibish worked at Argonne National Laboratory for nearly 14 years, most recently leading Argonne’s Energy Systems initiatives and associated program development. He managed several DOE international engagements on nuclear safety and technology. Dr. Faibish also spent time in Washington as an Argonne detailee, serving as the Senior Advisor to the Director of the DOE Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy. In this role, he advised the Director on policy, technology and strategic planning.
Dr. Faibish also served as the Science Fellow with the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, where he worked on major legislation, led the authorship of one of five whitepapers for Senator Lisa Murkowski on the energy-water nexus, worked closely with numerous external stakeholders, and negotiated complex issues related to bilateral international energy legislation, among other accomplishments.
Prior to joining Argonne, Dr. Faibish worked as a Research Development Manager at the International Atomic Energy Agency, managing multinational scientific research proposals and projects related to peaceful, non-electrical applications of nuclear energy.
Dr. Faibish received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also completed a certificate program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Mr. David Fletcher
Head of Business Development
URENCO Enrichment Company
David Fletcher has served as Head of Business Development and a member of the Commercial Lead Team, since 2015, with responsibility for evolving URENCO’s core enrichment business and it’s interactions in all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle.
Prior to joining URENCO, David has had over 20 years of business experience working as a strategy consultant, executive and entrepreneur in the energy and clean-tech sectors; including oil and gas, renewables and nuclear.
David holds an Honours Degree in Civil Engineering from University of Surrey and an MBA from London Business School.
Dr. John Gilleland
Chief Technical Officer
TerraPower LLC
John Gilleland is the Chief Technical Officer of TerraPower LLC, a company founded by Bill Gates (Chairman), Nathan Myhrvold (Vice Chairman) and Dr. Gilleland in 2008 to focus on achievement of improved nuclear safety, proliferation resistance, energy security and economic power for all countries.
From 2008 to 2015, Dr. Gilleland served as TerraPower’s chief executive officer (CEO). Under his leadership, TerraPower transitioned from an idea to a globally recognized center for innovation and development of new nuclear reactors and other advanced nuclear systems. Dr. Gilleland now serves as the company’s technology evangelist, focusing on the long-term product vision and feasibility of TerraPower’s best-known product, the traveling wave reactor.
Previously, Dr. Gilleland founded and served as the CEO of Archimedes Technology Group, a company which created and successfully tested new technologies that can speed weapons waste cleanup and opens new non-chemical approaches to commercial spent fuel reprocessing.
As chief scientist and vice president of energy programs at Bechtel Corporation, he had responsibility for a large number of advanced energy production and energy distribution system projects. In addition to nuclear programs, he had responsibility for a number of renewable energy projects that included very large central receiver and photo-voltaic solar projects, large commercial geothermal plants, commercial and demonstration biomass, wind, advanced diesel-solar hybrid arrays, and several other exploratory systems. Energy storage projects included superconducting, battery, hydro-pumped, inertial and compressed air based systems. Distributed energy projects included commercial scale fuel cell installations, microturbines, and small commercial and home-use solar arrays.
Prior to his Bechtel experiences, he served as the U.S. managing director of the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER) program during its conceptual design phase, and senior vice president of General Atomics for fusion development.
Dr. Gilleland holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from Yale University and a doctorate in physics from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Jeremy Harrell
Managing Director – Policy
ClearPath
Jeremy has nearly a decade of experience advising congressional leaders on energy, environmental, national security, tax and transportation policy. Before joining ClearPath in April 2017, Jeremy was a Senior Legislative Assistant to Sen. Dean Heller. In that role, he spearheaded the Nevada Republican’s efforts on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; and the Finance Committee’s energy subcommittee. He was previously Legislative Director for Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and a Legislative Assistant for Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio). Jeremy received his B.A. in Political Science and History from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Dr. Yassin A. Hassan
Department Head, Nuclear Engineering
Sallie & Don Davis '61 Professor in Nuclear Engineering
Texas A&M University
Dr. Yassin A. Hassan is the Department Head and Sallie & Don Davis ’61 Professor in Nuclear Engineering of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University. His current research topics include: Hydrogen production; Nuclear energy conversion technologies; Nuclear safety and security; Separation technologies for energy applications (e.g., CO2 capture, utilization, storage); Modeling, simulation and optimization of energy systems; and Energy security. Prior to joining Texas A&M September 1986, he worked for seven years at Babcock & Wilcox Company, where he conducted several thermal hydraulic analyses and undertook development of several
computational techniques. Dr. Hassan received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois, a Master in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia, a M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois, and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Alexandria, Egypt.
Mr. John L. Hopkins
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
NuScale Power, LLC.
John L. Hopkins is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NuScale Power, LLC. He has held the CEO position since 2012.
Mr. Hopkins is currently serving as chairman of the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C.
Prior to joining NuScale Power, Mr. Hopkins held numerous executive positions in his 24 years of service with Fluor Corporation, a Fortune 500 international engineering and construction company.
From 2010 to 2012, Mr. Hopkins served Fluor as group president, Corporate Development and New Ventures Group, responsible for Fluor’s strategic planning and global sales and marketing. In this role, Mr. Hopkins led Fluor’s Corporate Sales Board, account management activities, new ventures/emerging markets, corporate finance, government relations and corporate affairs, to achieve the company’s corporate growth and earning objectives.
From 2005 to 2009, Mr. Hopkins headed Fluor’s Government Group (FGG), with P&L responsibility leading the operations groups that provide value-added services to numerous government agencies, including the United States Departments of Energy, Defense, State, and Homeland Security and the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
Mr. Hopkins has held a variety of senior management, sales and operations roles around the world since joining Fluor in 1988. As group president of Fluor Global Services, Mr. Hopkins was responsible for the global Operations and Maintenance business unit. As president and chief executive officer of TradeMC, LLC, he was responsible for the strategic capital goods sourcing venture jointly owned by Fluor, IBM and Royal Bank of Canada. Additional P&L roles include group president of Corporate Sales & Marketing, Corporate Development and Project Finance; president of Chemicals & Life Sciences; and president of Chemicals, Composites and Textiles.
Active in a variety of professional and civic organizations, Mr. Hopkins is a member of the Nuclear Energy Institute board of directors and senior policy advisor of I Squared Capital, New York. He has also served as the senior executive member of both the Fluor Netherlands and Fluor United Kingdom board of directors, as chairman of the board for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC, and as a director of the Business Council for International Understanding.
Mr. Hopkins graduated with a BBA from the University of Texas, Austin, and has completed several advanced management programs.
Dr. Robert Hill
Technical Director, Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems
Argonne National Laboratory
Robert Hill completed his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering at Purdue University in 1987. He has worked at Argonne National Laboratory for over 25 years with research focus on reactor physics, fast reactor core design, plutonium disposition, and waste management. His current position is Technical Director of the Nuclear Engineering Division of Argonne National Laboratory. He has previously led Nuclear Engineering Division research groups working on reactor physics analysis, advanced modeling and simulation, fuel cycle and systems dynamics modeling, criticality safety, and nuclear data.
Dr. Hill is National Technical Director for multi-Laboratory advanced reactor R&D activities in current DOE Programs; this work includes small modular reactors, advanced structural materials, energy conversion technology, safety and licensing, and system integration. He also serves as U.S. representative for the Generation-IV Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor. Previous Program contributions include extensive transmutation and fuel cycle analysis activities in DOE Fuel Cycle Programs.
Dr. Bronwyn Hyland
Manager, Small Modular Reactor Technology Program
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories
Dr. Bronwyn Hyland is the Manager of Small Modular Reactor Technology Program at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. She has a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the Royal Military College. Bronwyn joined the reactor physics branch of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in 2006, where she worked on advanced fuel cycles, including thorium and generation-IV reactors, for seven years. In that role she represented Canada on several international collaborations with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency. Bronwyn worked in CNL’s corporate office, and then managed the Systems and Operations Research branch before moving to her current position managing CNL’s SMR program in January 2017.
Dr. Alan S. Icenhour
Associate Laboratory Director
Nuclear Science and Engineering Directorate
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Dr. Alan Icenhour is the Associate Laboratory Director (ALD) for the Nuclear Science and Engineering Directorate (NSED) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). NSED operates state-of-the-art nuclear facilities and conducts technology research, development, and application programs that impact a large range of fields from basic science to reactor development to national security. As ALD, Dr. Icenhour leads three research divisions (Fusion and Materials for Nuclear Systems, Nuclear Security and Isotope Technology, and Reactor and Nuclear Systems), one operating division (Nonreactor Nuclear Facilities), and the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors, the U.S. Department of Energy’s first energy innovation hub. NSED mission areas include research and development (R&D) for both fission and fusion technologies; advanced modeling and simulation; stable and radioactive isotope R&D and production; research, development, and deployment of technologies to address nuclear security challenges globally; and safe and efficient operation of ORNL’s nuclear facilities.
Prior to his role as ALD, Dr. Icenhour has served as the director of three ORNL divisions: the Global Nuclear Security Technology Division, the Fuel Cycle and Isotopes Division, and the Nuclear Security and Isotope Technology Division.
Dr. Icenhour joined ORNL in 1990. His more than 30 years of nuclear experience have included R&D on a range of fuel cycle topics such as enrichment, radiochemical processing, stable and radioisotope production, nuclear fuels, radiation effects on materials, radioactive waste management, and nuclear security. He completed a 21 month special assignment in Washington, D.C., as a Senior Technical Advisor to the Proliferation Detection Program within the Office of Nonproliferation Research and Development (NA-22) of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Before joining ORNL, he served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy on a nuclear powered submarine. After leaving active duty, he continued his service with the Navy as an active reservist, retiring in August 2010 at the rank of Captain (O-6). He received his B.S. degree in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee. He is an Adjunct Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee. He is a fellow of the American Nuclear Society and a member of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management.
Mr. Simon Irish
Chief Executive Officer
Terrestrial Energy
Simon Irish co-founded Terrestrial Energy Inc., in 2012 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. He has over 20 years of investment banking and asset management experience in top-tier investment firms in both New York and London, complemented by a formal education in the quantitative sciences and quantitative finance.
In 2009, Mr. Irish founded SWH Capital LLC a New York based investment firm to focus on innovative businesses in the financial, energy and healthcare sectors. Mr. Irish is the former Head of MGS in North America, investment division of Man Group PLC where his responsibilities extended to sourcing and appraising corporate acquisition opportunities.. During his tenure at Man, Mr. Irish ran a strategic deal program, which was one of the largest and most active seed investment businesses in North America. In conjunction with this Mr. Irish was responsible for sourcing and appraising corporate acquisition opportunities for Man Group Plc.
Mr. Irish holds an MA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an MSc in Finance from the London Business School.
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Mr. Ramzi Jammal, MBA, BSc
Executive Vice-President and Chief Regulatory Operations Officer
Regulatory Operations Branch, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC)
Ramzi Jammal has worked for the CNSC since 1998, holding progressively senior positions. He has accumulated over 20 years of experience in the nuclear industry, combining management skills with scientific expertise, and representing the CNSC in various international activities. These include the development and establishment of the IAEA Code of Conduct for the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, and the international categorization of radioactive sources. He also played a key role in ensuring that the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiation Protection complemented the CNSC's regulatory needs.
Prior to joining the CNSC, Mr. Jammal was the Technical Manager of the Department of Radiological Sciences Nuclear Medicine Division at the Ottawa Hospital's Civic Campus. Under his leadership, the department became the first filmless nuclear medicine department in Canada.
He has received several academic awards, including the North American Society of Nuclear Medicine’s First Place Award for new scientific advancements in nuclear medicine.
Ms. Suzanne Jaworowski
Chief of Staff & Senior Advisor, Office of Nuclear Energy
Distinguished Fellow
U.S. Department of Energy
In her role as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor in the Office of Nuclear Energy, Suzanne serves as the Political Liaison between the Office of Nuclear Energy and the Secretary of Energy, as well as the White House. She provides political and strategic leadership to the office and manages outreach and educational efforts in the area of civil nuclear energy.
Prior to her role with the U.S. Department of Energy, Suzanne served as the Indiana State Campaign Director for the Trump Pence campaign. The Indiana campaign had historic results in being the first to report a win for the President in the General Election; as well as the state that secured enough delegate votes for President Trump to become the Republican nominee for President in the Primary Election.
Prior to running the Indiana Trump Pence campaign, Ms. Jaworowski served as the Communications and Government Affairs Director for Sunrise Coal, LLC / Hallador Energy Company. In 2016 she ran for Indiana State Senate and for nearly 15 years she ran a successful marketing and communications business.
Suzanne has been married to Steve Jaworowski for 27 years and they have four children. She is a patriotic American who believes in promoting the values of “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Dr Rolland Johnson
President
Muons, Inc.
President, Ph.D. (1970). Dr. Rolland P. Johnson has been actively involved in particle accelerator research and development for over 40 years. He has worked on all aspects of synchrotrons, storage rings, and light sources at several institutions. Dr. Johnson has directed several successful accelerator R & D, construction, and commissioning projects. Examples at Fermilab include H- injection into the Booster, new extraction kickers for the Booster, Booster RF cavity gradient improvement program, Tevatron low beta insertions, Tevatron Collider, and at LSU, the CAMD light source. He directed many software projects at Fermilab, CAMD, and CEBAF. He also provided technical oversight to several SBIR grants while on detail to the DOE. Dr. Johnson has extensive experience in the area of beam cooling, having participated in the commissioning and improvement programs of the CERN Antiproton Accumulator as well as the design of the Fermilab TeV I project. He has contributed original work involving simulations and implementations of stochastic cooling systems and of their associated RF systems. Dr. Johnson has experience in the design and development of magnets. He designed and built the large aperture magnets used for his thesis and was heavily involved in the commissioning of the Tevatron, where he discovered and corrected for the decay of the sextupole component of the superconducting dipoles, invented the double-helix beam separation scheme, and implemented the squeeze of the low beta interaction region quadrupoles. Besides work on methods to increase the proton flux for better muon production as seen in the Proton Driver Design Report and The Linac Afterburner Proposal, he has worked on improving ionization cooling. As the founder, president, and chief scientist at Muons, Inc. he has been the PI on several SBIR-STTR grants.
Mr. Michael Keller
President and CEO
Hybrid Power Technologies, LLC
Hybrid Power Technologies LLC was formed in the summer of 2005 to develop and promote a new family of hybrid power plants that use nuclear and fossil fuel sources. The hybrid-nuclear approach is a major technological breakthrough that offers the real possibility of energy independence and a sustainable energy future.
United States Patent 7, 961, 785 was issued in June of 2011 for this unique and never previously proposed hybrid technology.
Mr. Keller is a 40 year veteran of the power industry with extensive and wide-ranging management, business, operations, design, engineering and technical expertise. This in-depth and world-wide experience has been acquired while working for utilities, plant designers, construction companies and equipment manufacturers. Extensive “hands-on” experience with a wide range of generating stations, including combined-cycle power plants (oil, gas, propane and liquefied natural gas fired), simple-cycle gas turbines, nuclear and coal power plants as well as steam-methane reformer hydrogen plants.
Dr. Hussein Khalil
Director, Nuclear Energy and Security Program
Distinguished Fellow
Argonne National Laboratory
Hussein S. Khalil is director of Argonne's Nuclear Energy and Security Program. He oversees the Lab's research on nuclear reactor technology and nuclear non-proliferation. He joined Argonne in 1983 and has carried out research to optimize fast-reactor core design and improve computational methods for reactor physics, dynamics and fuel cycle analysis.
Dr. Khalil is an Argonne Distinguished Fellow and a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society. He earned a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983 and an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1996.
Mr. Patrick Looney
Vice President, Advanced Reactors & Services
Nuclear Plant Projects
General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy
Patrick
Looney is a global commercial professional with over 25 years of progressive energy industry experience and resides in Wilmington, NC in the U.S. Pat manages product lines for General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) including 1) the PRISM sodium-cooled, fast reactor product line, a design based on proven, safe and mature technologies that can generate low carbon electricity, recycle used nuclear fuel, and disposition and surplus plutonium, and 2) an advanced reactor services product line offering independent expert resources, specialized capabilities, and infrastructure for new reactor designers and nuclear new build projects. For example, GEH has signed a development agreement with Advanced Reactor Concepts (ARC) and is helping them advance their sodium fast reactor. Pat’s responsibilities include strategic product planning and forecasting, product management, marketing, business development, proposal generation, sales, project delivery, profitability, and overall product line growth.
Pat’s previous role was as Senior Commercial Leader for GEH New Plant Projects in which he led teams in developing and implementing strategies for multi-billion dollar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) proposals for new nuclear plants globally. His earlier GEH roles included VP of Services Marketing, where he developed strategies and promoted nuclear plant services, and Nuclear Account Executive/Northeast (U.S.) Region Leader, in which he managed key customer relationships and sold services and fuel. Prior to GEH, he had roles of increasing responsibility for sales and account management for gas and steam turbine generator products and services with GE Energy Services.
Pat joined GE through its Junior Officer Leadership Program for veteran military officers. Prior to joining GE, he served in the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Power Program where he was a Surface Warfare Officer and nuclear plant operator on an aircraft carrier. He attended the Pennsylvania State University on a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.
The Honorable Peter B. Lyons
Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy (2010-2015)
Commissioner, U.S. NRC (2005-2009)
Dr. Peter B. Lyons, led the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy from 2010-2015, serving first as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Nuclear Energy (2009-2011) and then Assistant Secretary of the Office of Nuclear Energy (2011-2015). As Assistant Secretary, Dr. Lyons was responsible for all programs and activities of the Office of Nuclear Energy. Under Dr. Lyons’ leadership, the Office made great strides in incorporating modeling and simulation into all programs through the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation program and the Energy Innovation Hub. He focused on management of used fuel by contributing to the development of the Administration’s Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste. In addition, NE established the Small Modular Reactor Licensing Technical Support program for a new generation of safe, reliable, low-carbon nuclear energy technology. And he championed the Nuclear Energy University Program, which has successfully supported U.S. universities in preparing the next generation of nuclear engineering leaders.
Prior to joining DOE, Dr. Lyons was sworn in as a Commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on January 25, 2005 and served until June 30, 2009. At the NRC, Dr. Lyons focused on the safety of operating reactors, even as new reactor licensing and possible construction emerged. He was a consistent voice for improving partnerships with international regulatory agencies. He emphasized active and forward-looking research programs to support sound regulatory decisions, address current issues and anticipate future ones. He was also a strong proponent of science and technology education.
Before becoming a Commissioner, Dr. Lyons served as Science Advisor on the staff of U.S. Senator Pete Domenici and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources where he focused on military and civilian uses of nuclear technology from 1997 to 2005. From 1969 to 1996, Dr. Lyons worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he served as Director for Industrial Partnerships, Deputy Associate Director for Energy and Environment, and Deputy Associate Director-Defense Research and Applications. While at Los Alamos, he spent over a decade supporting nuclear test diagnostics.
Dr. Lyons has published more than 100 technical papers, holds three patents related to fiber optics and plasma diagnostics, and consults on several corporate and laboratory boards, as well as assisting several international groups such as the NATO Nuclear Effects Task Group where he served as chairman for five years. Throughout his career, Dr. Lyons has focused on the safety of operating reactors and on the importance of learning from operating experience, even as new reactor licensing and possible construction emerge. He has been Member of Technical Advisory Board at NuScale Power, LLC since March 24, 2017. An extensive research background underlies his advocacy for a science and technology based research program to address current issues and anticipate future ones. He is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, held an elected position for 16 years on the Los Alamos School Board and spent six years on the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos Branch Advisory Board. He received his Doctorate in Nuclear Astrophysics from the California Institute of Technology in 1969 and earned his undergraduate degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Arizona in 1964.
Hon. William D. Magwood, IV
Director-General
Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
The Honorable William D. Magwood is the Director-General of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a position he has held since 1 September 2014.
He has extensive experience in both the regulatory and developmental aspects of nuclear energy, at both the domestic and international level. From 2010 to 2014, he served as one of the five Commissioners appointed by the U.S. President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). While a commissioner, he advocated the importance of nuclear regulatory independence and the necessity of maintaining strong, credible and technically sound nuclear regulation in the United States and all countries that use nuclear power.
Prior to his appointment at the NRC, from 2005 to 2010 he provided independent strategic and policy advice to U.S. and international clients on energy, environmental and technology policy issues. During this time, he also sat on various advisory groups and provided technical and policy advice to members of the U.S. Congress on nuclear research, education and climate change policy.
From 1998 to 2005, Mr. Magwood was Director of Nuclear Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). During his tenure, he launched several important initiatives including the U.S. Nuclear Power 2010 program and the Generation IV International Forum (GIF). He was also actively involved in the work of the NEA, serving as a Steering Committee bureau member from 1999 to 2003, and as Chair in 2004 and early 2005.
Prior to his experience at the DOE, Mr. Magwood managed electric utility research and nuclear policy programmes at the Edison Electric Institute in Washington, DC, and was earlier a scientist at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Magwood, a U.S. national, holds Bachelor's degrees in Physics and English from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Pittsburgh.
Hon. Mark W. Menezes
Under Secretary of Energy
U.S. Department of Energy
The Honorable Mark Wesley Menezes, Under Secretary of Energy serves as the Department’s principal advisor on energy policy and on a wide array of existing and emerging energy technologies. The Under Secretary is responsible for driving transformative energy policy, and technology solutions through coordinated planning, management and performance of the Department’s energy programs.
Prior to being confirmed as Under Secretary of Energy, Mr. Menezes was an executive with Berkshire Hathaway Energy in its Washington, D.C. office. Before joining BHE, Mr. Menezes was a partner at Hunton & Williams LLP, where he headed the Regulated Markets and Energy Infrastructure practice group. Prior to Hunton, he served as Chief Counsel, Energy and Environment, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, serving as chief negotiator for the House Majority in the enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Before his service with House Energy & Commerce, he was Vice President with Central and South West, and upon its merger with American Electric Power, served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel for federal and state legislative and regulatory affairs.
Mr. Menezes has been named in National Journal’s “Hill 100”—top Congressional staff for his work on both energy and environmental matters. He has been frequent guest speaker and lecturer before numerous associations and civic groups, including legal education seminars where he has been called on to address the nation’s energy and environmental policies, utility restructuring, telecommunications, ethics, merger and acquisition practices, and regulatory and legislative processes. He has co-authored numerous articles, a practice manual, and been quoted in the New York Times, Law360, Oil and Gas Journal, Politico as well as interviewed by E&ETV. He’s been listed Best Lawyers in America 2013–2016, Corporate Counsel’s Top Lawyers 2006–2011, Washington Post’s Top Lawyers 2008–2016, and DC Super Lawyers 2012–2016.
Mr. Menezes is a graduate of Louisiana State University receiving both his undergraduate and juris doctor degree. Until joining the government he was a charter member of the Advisory Council, Louisiana State University Law John P. Laborde Energy Law Center, and served on the Board of Directors of the Congressional Chorus & American Youth Chorus.
Hon. Jeffrey Merrifield
Former Commissioner, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
&
Chairman, USNIC Advanced Reactor Task Force;
Partner - Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Jeffrey Merrifield is a partner in the Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP’s energy practice. Mr. Merrifield was appointed by President Clinton and reappointed by President Bush to serve on the five-member, Senate-confirmed, independent United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. During his tenure, which was from October 1998 to June 2002 and from August 2002 to June 2007, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission had a staff of 3,250 employees with a budget of $900 million and set all policies and rules that govern the safe and secure use of nuclear materials at the 104 U.S. nuclear power plants operating at that time.
Prior to joining Pillsbury, Mr. Merrifield served as President of The Merrifield Group, LLC where he provided energy and environmental consulting, advocacy and strategic advice for companies, organizations and individuals. Specific areas of focus included management, energy market analysis, nuclear, fossil and alternative energy policy and deployment, radioactive and hazardous waste disposal strategies, safety and regulatory assessment and analysis, as well as public and government engagement.
Before working with the Merrifield Group, Mr. Merrifield was the Senior Vice President of Global Business Development with CB&I’s Power Business Unit. While there, he led a team of twenty-five sales and proposal staff to develop and win over $1.5 billion in annual sales, including the first competitive, EPC combined cycle gas unit in over six years.
Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President for The Shaw Group, Inc.’s Power Group. As a member of the Power Group's executive team, he was responsible for overseeing the group's external relationships including nuclear business development, customer relations, strategic planning, marketing and communications, as well as government and regulatory affairs.
Mr. Merrifield also served on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Ecology Corporation, which is one of the largest U.S. operators of both hazardous and low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. He served as the Lead Director and Chairman of the Governance Committee, and was a member of the Compensation and Audit Committees.
Currently, Mr. Merrifield serves as the Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council’s Advanced Reactors Task Force. Composed of more than 70 companies, the Council is the leading business consortium advocate for new nuclear energy and the promotion of the American supply chain globally.
Mr. John Monninger
Director – Division of Safety Systems, Risk Assessment, and Advanced Reactors
Office of New Reactors
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Mr. Monninger is the Director of the Division of Safety Systems, Risk Assessment, and Advanced Reactors in NRC’s Office of New Reactors. He manages NRC’s programs responsible for the licensing reviews of new and advanced reactors in the areas of safety systems, probabilistic risk assessment, design basis and severe accidents, core physics, and core thermal hydraulics. He directs technical support and expertise for special projects, programs, and policy activities; and develops and implements policies and guidance for the use of probabilistic risk assessment and associated analyses in regulatory decision making for new and advanced reactors. He oversees NRC’s advanced reactors program and the development of policy for all activities involving the licensing of new and advanced reactor nuclear power plants. He has more than 29 years of nuclear regulatory experience including licensing, inspection, and research, covering both nuclear reactor safety, and nuclear materials and waste safety. Prior to his current position, he held many diverse and challenging senior management positions including: Deputy Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing; Associate Director, Japan Lessons-Learned Project Directorate; Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Chairman; and Deputy Director, Division of Risk Analysis. He serves as one of the NRC’s Reactor Safety Team Directors supporting the Incident Response Program. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1988.
Mr. Philip Moor
President
High Bridge Energy Development
Philip Moor has over thirty-five years of experience and has been involved with development, design, engineering, construction, operation, and decommissioning of various nuclear and conventional facilities. Mr. Moor is active in industry programs that are preparing for new reactor nuclear facilities and has experience in all nuclear technologies. Mr. Moor is experienced with North American technical and environmental regulations as well as international conventions and requirements. Mr. Moor has been accountable for managed completion of engineering, operational support, and decommissioning projects for large and small facilities, including Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) and Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) compliance for coal facilities. With nearly twenty years in responsible positions for utility owners, Mr. Moor has a thorough understanding of regulatory and policy issues balanced with extensive EPC experience for constructability/maintainability. In addition to his current role at High Bridge Energy Development, Mr. Moor has successfully worked at Four Points Group, Inc. Tetra Tech, Burns and Roe, ABB Equity Ventures, Polestar, GPU, General Physics, BOC Group and Jersey Central Power and Light. Mr. Moor holds an M.S. degree in Engineering Management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University and is a Registered Professional Engineer.
Dr. Per Peterson
Chief Nuclear Officer
Kairos Power
Dr. Per Peterson is the Chief Nuclear Officer for Kairos Power. He holds the William and Jean McCallum Floyd Chair in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at UC Berkeley. He is an expert in topics related to high-temperature fission energy systems, safety and security of nuclear materials, and waste management. As a member of the Evaluation Methodology Group, he participated in the development of the Gen IV Roadmap while serving as co-chair for the Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection Working Group. His research has contributed to the development of the passive safety systems used in the GE ESBWR and Westinghouse AP1000 reactor designs. With Charles Forsberg and Paul Pickard, in 2003 he proposed the FHR concept of a molten-salt cooled, solid fueled reactor.
Dr. Edward Pheil
Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder
Elysium Industries
Chief Technical Officer and Co-founder of Elysium Industries to design a passively safe Molten Chloride Salt Reactor (MCSFR) to burn Spent Nuclear Fuel and excess weapons and reactor grade plutonium, and a goal to provide island mode blackout power operation.
Chief Technical Officer and Founder of Fisonic Energy Solutions - Power Systems, Install energy efficiency and blackout heat, A/C, and electricity for Boston buildings, hospitals, government and university, etc. facilities. Improve steam power system efficiency & reliability, provide blackout power & cooling, including decay heat for water reactors.
Technical Advisor - Fisonic Energy Solutions, LLC, Advise on strategy and applications of the Fisonic Pump and Theral Kinetic Turbine Generators
Technical Advisor - Silicon Accelerator, Inc. Design of radiation tolerant, THz computer chips for Quantum computers, a small aneutronic p-B11 fusion reactor with direct energy conversion.
Technical Advisor -Averoses Inc - Design of Quantum DNA applications, like quantum communications.
Advisory Nuclear Engineer - Naval Nuclear Laboratory - 32 years of designing water and MANY alternate reactor designs for the Navy. Design, construction, start up testing, operation, maintenance of water reactors. Design of the Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter reactor, and brief work on a Moon base reactor. Alway in demand for innovative, new projects for advanced reactors and special projects.
Dr. Jean C. Ragusa
Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering
Associate Director, Institute for Scientific Computation (ISC)
Texas A&M University
Dr. Jean C. Ragusa is a Tenured Associate Professor in the Nuclear Engineering Department at Texas A&M University as well as Associate Director of Texas A&M’s Institute for Scientific Computation. Dr. Regusa expertise includes:
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High performance computing (automated mesh refinement & goal-oriented computations) applied to nuclear science and engineering;
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Advanced numerical methods for deterministic radiation transport solvers;
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High-fidelity multiphysics coupling techniques and simulations;
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Application of inverse transport problems to nuclear material detection;
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Fuel assembly and 3-D nuclear core modeling and optimization.
Dr. Ragusa received his Ph.D. In Nuclear Engineering from the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble, France; a M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University; and a Engineer diploma in Nuclear Engineering from the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble, France.
Mr. Steve Rhyne
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
NuGen
Steve graduated in 1969 from West Point, where he studied nuclear engineering. He was Phi Kappa Phi and received the Brigadier General Clifton C. Carter Academic Award for excellence in engineering. Steve then served as a combat engineer in the U.S. Army for 5 years, with tours in Vietnam and Europe. Steve served in various assignments, including platoon leader, company commander and battalion operations officer and received several valor citations.
Steve left the Army to begin law school. He graduated from The George Washington Law School in 1977 with high honors and was editor-in-chief of The George Washington Law Review. After law school, he clerked for Judge Roger Robb, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, after which he returned home to North Carolina to begin practicing law with the firm of Kennedy, Covington, Lobdell & Hickman, which merged with K&L Gates in 2008.
Steve was a corporate lawyer specializing in mergers & acquisitions and private equity and was regularly recognized in editions of the Best Lawyers in America. He also held various management positions with Kennedy Covington, including being a member of the executive and management committees, co-chairing the corporate department and chairing the firm’s compensation committee.
In 2008, Steve began devoting more time to nuclear industry activities outside of his efforts to commercialize the NuGen engines. He served as the Co-Chair, “High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors: Strategy and Overview,” 2014 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP); was a member of the American Nuclear Society and served on its Special Committee on Generic Licensing Issues for Small Modular Reactors; was the Chair, Public Policy Task Force for the Carolinas Nuclear Cluster; was a panelist, Roundtable on Export Markets and Export Challenges of Small Modular Reactors, April 2011; and co-authored in 2009 and 2010 legal articles on Small Modular Reactors and their licensing.
Steve also began in 2008 an active role in researching, speaking and writing about climate change. In addition to his efforts as a member of K&L Gates climate change practice group, he was the author of two chapters in The Encyclopedia of Sustainability (Berkshire Publishing) regarding climate change disclosure; author and speaker of “SEC Climate Change Disclosure Requirements,” at the American Gas Association 2010 Legal Forum; author of several other legal articles regarding the then newly adopted SEC release on climate change disclosure; and the speaker or moderator at several local conferences regarding climate change.
Steve has actively pursued the design, development and commercialization of the NuGen engines since their conception in 2001. This includes his own work and analysis related to these concepts, as well as discussions with several universities, national laboratories and research facilities, including work with Texas A&M beginning in 2010. Steve retired from K&L Gates and the practice of law at the end of 2016 with the goal of devoting more time to NuGen and climate change.
Dr. Rachel Slaybaugh
Program Director, Advanced Nuclear Reactor Systems
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)
Dr. Rachel Slaybaugh currently serves as a Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Her focus at ARPA-E includes a wide range of technologies to enable advanced nuclear reactor systems.
Slaybaugh is also an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. There, she researches numerical methods for neutral particle transport with an emphasis on supercomputing and advanced architectures. Her research applies to reactor design, shielding, and nuclear security and non-proliferation. Slaybaugh also runs the Nuclear Innovation Bootcamp to train the next generation of people working on nuclear energy. She was appointed to the Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee and she serves as a Senior Fellow at the Breakthrough Institute.
Slaybaugh earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in nuclear engineering and engineering physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She holds a B.S. in nuclear engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
Dr. Andrew Sowder
Technical Executive
Advanced Nuclear Technology
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Andrew Sowder is a senior project manager at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Charlotte, NC, where he leads strategic analysis of advanced nuclear energy systems to support long-term research & development (R&D) decision-making. Recent responsibilities also included coordination of government and industry R&D efforts to ensure safe storage of used nuclear fuel over extended periods and technical U.S. industry support of early event analyses of spent fuel pools following the events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in March 2011. Currently, he is leading EPRI’s international engagement to promote development of enhanced accident tolerant nuclear fuel. Prior to joining EPRI, Andrew served as a physical scientist and foreign affairs officer at the U.S. Department of State addressing international nuclear safety and radiological security issues, including policy and technical analysis supporting U.S. oversight of Chernobyl related programs. He is a certified healthy physicist and earned a Ph.D. in environmental nuclear engineering from Clemson University, where his training and research focused on health physics, radiochemistry, and uranium geochemistry.
Dr. Jennifer Uhle
Director of Reactor Safety Programs
Jensen Hughes
Dr. Jennifer Uhle is the Director of Reactor Safety Programs at Jensen Hughes, a consulting company to the nuclear industry. Prior to joining Jensen Hughes, Jennifer served in a number of progressively more responsible positions at the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including the Director of the Office of New Reactors, the Deputy Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, and the Deputy Director of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. She has over 24 years of experience in the nuclear industry. Jennifer obtained her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1991 and 1996, respectively, with a specialization in reactor systems and design. She served as the United States’ representative to the IAEA’s first fact finding mission to Fukushima in 2011.
Dr. John Wagner
Associate Lab Director - Nuclear S&T
Idaho National Laboratory
Dr. John Wagner serves as associate laboratory director for the Nuclear Science & Technology (NS&T) Directorate. He was previously director of NS&T Domestic Programs and the Technical Integration Office for the DOE-NE Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program. Wagner initially joined INL as the chief scientist at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex in 2016. He has more than 20 years of experience performing research, and managing and leading research and development projects, programs and organizations. Prior to joining INL, he worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for nearly 17 years, where he held a number of research and leadership roles in reactor and fuel cycle technologies. He holds a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and master’s and doctorate degrees from the Pennsylvania State University. He is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, recipient of the 2013 E.O. Lawrence Award, and has authored or co-authored over 170 refereed journal and conference articles, technical reports, and conference summaries.
Mr. Jeff Whitt
Director, Business Development
Contracts & Services - North America
Fuel Commercial & Customer Center
Framatome
As Business Development Director in the Fuel Commercial & Customer Center for Framatome, Mr. Whitt holds responsibility for the facilitation of Strategic Business Development for the group, including those related to advanced fuel products. Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Whitt held a series of positions including:
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Operational Performance manager responsible for growth and performance of new services, including cooperative agreements and increased engagement with the US DOE,
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U. S. Bid Factory Manager responsible for the management and delivery of proposals for fuel fabrication and services as well as the associated contracting efforts,
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Program and Project Manager positions for various activities, including coordination of strategic initiatives, contractual and financial analysis, product and process improvement efforts, as well as leadership of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) teams.
Mr Whitt began his career in the Nuclear Industry 34 years ago after completion of an apprenticeship with General Electric Co. and has held several positions associated with fabrication, design, and technical management and is the holder of five patents related to the fabrication of nuclear fuel. He holds a degree in Business Management from Averett University.
