Speakers
Speakers
Mr. Jon Ball
Executive Vice President, Nuclear Plant Projects
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
Jon Ball is Executive Vice President of Nuclear Plant Projects for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a position he assumed in November 2015. In this role he leads the development and execution of new plant strategies globally.
Jon has been a leader in the nuclear industry for more than 20 years and has a wide-range of experience in manufacturing, global operations, services, quality and P&L leadership.
From 2012-2015 Jon served as Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain, where he led more than 1,000 employees worldwide in manufacturing and logistics. Prior to that Jon spent seven years in services where he led both the performance services and field services segments.
Before that he spent seven years with Global Nuclear Fuel, a joint venture majority owned by GE, serving in several positions including global supply chain leader, quality manager and lab manager.
Jon is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt with a B.S. in Chemistry from Pacific Lutheran University and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University.
Mr. Omer Brown, II
Counsel
Contractors Int'l Group on Nuclear Liability
Mr. Brown is a Washington, D.C.-based attorney-at-law whose practice emphasizes risk management for nuclear activities. He is a frequent writer, and has lectured on nuclear law issues in twenty-four foreign countries on six continents and twenty-one U.S. States. He is one of two U.S. participants in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Expert Group on Nuclear Liability (INLEX). He was part of the faculty for IAEA nuclear liability regional workshops in Australia (2005 and 2016), Peru (2006), South Africa (2008), United Arab Emirates (2009), Russia (2010), Vietnam (2014) and Panama (2015), as well as a briefing for diplomats at United Nations Headquarters (2013). He participates in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency Nuclear Law Committee as part of the U.S. Government delegation. He is counsel to the Contractors International Group on Nuclear Liability (CIGNL), an ad hoc group of major North American nuclear contractors formed in 1993 to promote more widespread adherence to the international nuclear liability conventions and adoption of consistent domestic nuclear liability laws. He is a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Civil International Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (2014-2018). He provided legal advice following the nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island in 1979, at Chernobyl in 1986, and at Fukushima in 2011. He was counsel to the Energy Contractors Price-Anderson Group for the 1988 and 2005 Amendments Acts. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Nuclear Law and Atoms for Peace. He was a supporting expert for Nuclear Power Plant and Reactor Exporters’ Principles of Conduct initiated by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was a Deputy Attorney General of New Jersey (1972-1975) and Senior Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Energy (1979-1983). Mr. Brown was graduated from Rutgers University (A.B. 1969) and Cornell University Law School (J.D. 1972). He received an Army R.O.T.C. Commission as a Second Lieutenant in 1969, and served to the rank of Captain (1975). He is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United States.
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. Grahm Cable
Vice President, Global Market Development
New Plants and Major Projects
Westinghouse Electric Company
Graham Cable is responsible for growth in global markets for Westinghouse’s New Plant and Major Projects business. In this role, he is accountable for establishing business platforms in emerging markets; customer, supplier and stakeholder relationships; commercial offers; and new business. He was appointed to the position in September 2014.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Cable served as vice president, Strategic Operations, in Westinghouse’s Automation and Field Services business, where he championed strategic growth, led program support functions and established business operations in Shanghai, China.
Earlier, Mr. Cable held a number of operating and strategy roles at Westinghouse, with responsibility for Automation and Field Services strategy and product marketing, Instrumentation and Control Systems, Nuclear Parts Operations and Corporate Strategy. Mr. Cable joined Westinghouse in 2004.
Prior to joining Westinghouse, Mr. Cable was executive director at a merchant investment bank in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he directed client acquisition and divestiture mandates in the equipment manufacturing and specialty chemicals sectors.
Earlier, Mr. Cable held positions of increasing responsibility with Eaton Corporation and the successor to its semiconductor equipment business, Axcelis Technologies. He began his career as a management consultant with Price Waterhouse in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mr. Cable has a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from Brown University and an MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Mr. Steve Clagett
Director, Nuclear and Missile Technology
U.S. Department of Commerce
Steven Clagett has been with the Department of Commerce's, Bureau of Industry and Security (BlS) since 1989. He is currently the Director of the Nuclear and Missile Technology Division, of the Office of Non Proliferation Controls and Treaty Compliance. Prior to becoming Director, he served as senior engineer with the Nuclear Technology Division where he was responsible for regulatory issues dealing with the export of nuclear items and also advised on exports of missile related items.
He has represented Commerce at the various international negotiations including the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Hague Code of Conduct (HCOC), Zangger Committee, and numerous others. He has also represented Commerce at COCOM negotiations on Marine Technology and in other transportation related areas. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University and a Masters in Engineering Administration from George Washington University.
Ms. Susan Eisenhower
CEO and Chairman
The Eisenhower Group;
Chairman Emeritus
Eisenhower Institute
Susan Eisenhower is the CEO and Chairman of The Eisenhower Group, Inc. (EGI), a Washington D.C. based consulting company founded in 1986. For more than twenty-five years the company has provided strategic counsel on business development, public affairs and communications projects. EGI has advised Fortune 500 companies, not just in the United States, but also abroad—in China, Russia, Central Asia and Western Europe for such companies as American Express, IBM, Coca Cola, AES, Alcoa, and General Electric.
In addition to her work through EGI, Susan Eisenhower has also had a distinguished career as a policy analyst. She is Chairman Emeritus at the Eisenhower Institute of Gettysburg College, where she served as president twice. She has also been a Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics and a Distinguished Fellow at the Nixon Center, now called the Center for National Interest.
Over the years, she has served as a member of three blue ribbon commissions for the Department of Energy for three different secretaries: The Baker-Cutler Commission on U.S. Funded Non-Proliferation Programs in Russia; The Sununu-Meserve Commission on Nuclear Energy; and the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, which released its findings on a comprehensive program for the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle in the winter of 2012. She was also appointed to the National Academy of Sciences Standing Committee on International Security and Arms Control, where she served eight years. After as many years on the NASA Advisory Council, she served as a commissioner on the International Space Station Management and Cost Evaluation Task Force. She is currently a member of MIT’s Energy Initiative Advisory Board and co-chairman of NEAC, the Secretary of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Advisory Board.
In addition, Ms. Eisenhower has done extensive work in executive training on strategic leadership. She has spoken on this subject in many corporate venues, as well as at such distinguished institutions as the United States Military Academy at West Point; the Foreign Policy Association in New York; the Army War College, Carlisle; Sandia National Laboratory, MIT and Australia’s Science and Technology Organization, which is part of the Australian Ministry of Defence. Eisenhower holds a year-long seminar on strategy for competitively selected students at the Eisenhower Institute of Gettysburg College.
Eisenhower has authored hundreds of op-eds for newspapers such as the Washington Post and the LA Times, appeared frequently on national television and radio, and her articles have appeared in such journals as the National Academy of Sciences’ Issues in Science and Technology and the Naval Institutes’ Proceedings. She has written four trade press books, two of which were on regional best seller lists, and she co-authored or co-edited four other books on international security issues.
Mr. William Fork
Senior Lawyer
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Will Fork is a senior lawyer in the law firm's Energy practice and is located in the Washington, DC office. He represents electric utilities and companies on international energy transaction, export control, nuclear liability and domestic regulatory issues. He assists clients regarding the regulation of international nuclear power plants, nuclear vendor procurement, and agreements for the construction, operation, and fueling of nuclear power units. He served as the General Counsel of a civil nuclear power program and attended the International School of Nuclear Law in Montpellier, France.
Prior to joining Pillsbury, Mr. Fork was a Fulbright Scholar at Bucerius Law School in Germany, an Armor Captain in the United States Army, and intern to Robert Mayer, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Mr. Rex Geveden
President and Chief Executive Officer
BWX Technologies, Inc.
Rex Geveden is President and Chief Executive Officer for BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT). A billion dollar company headquartered in Lynchburg, Va., BWXT manufactures specialty components for the U.S. Department of Defense as well as manages and operates complex, high-consequence nuclear and non-nuclear operations for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Environmental Management and other federal agencies. BWXT supports the commercial nuclear industry with heavy component manufacturing, inspection and repair services, and development of the mPowerTM small modular reactor.
As President, Mr. Geveden leads the more than $1.4 billion business overseeing its six major North American sites, comprising three-million square feet of manufacturing and engineering operations providing products and services to government and commercial nuclear customers. In addition to directing the business operations, he oversees the company's strategic plan and execution, and its leadership succession plan and implementation.
Mr. Geveden joined BWXT in 2015 as Chief Operating Officer (COO). In this role, he was responsible for execution of all of BWXT’s government and commercial nuclear operations in the U.S. and Canada. This included the Company’s four business units: Nuclear Operations, Technical Services, Nuclear Energy and mPowerTM.
Prior to his tenure at BWXT, he was Executive Vice President at Teledyne Technologies, where he led two of Teledyne’s four operating segments. Concurrently, he was President of Teledyne DALSA, Inc., a global commercial digital imaging and semiconductor products corporation. He spent a total of eight years at Teledyne Technologies Incorporated in increasing levels of responsibility, including President and Chief Executive Officer of Teledyne Scientific and Imaging and President of Teledyne Brown Engineering.
Prior to that, he spent 17 years at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), including service as the agency’s COO responsible for a $16 billion portfolio of work that encompassed the agency’s technical operations of science, aeronautics, space operations and exploration as well as oversight of NASA’s ten field centers. Mr. Geveden holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from Murray State University.
Dr. Ravi B. Grover
Member, Atomic Energy Commission;
Department of Atomic Energy - Homi Bhabha Chair;
Founding Vice-Chancellor of the Homi Bhabha National Institute;
Fellow, Indian National Academy of Engineering &
Fellow, World Academy of Art and Science
Dr. Grover occupies Homi Bhabha Chair instituted by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and has been a member of the Atomic Energy Commission since 2011. He studied mechanical engineering at Delhi College of Engineering, nuclear engineering at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and received a Ph.D.
from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
He has been working in the DAE for about four and a half decades and was Principal Adviser to DAE during October 2010 to February 2013. He played a key role in the Indo-U.S. civil nuclear agreement. As a nuclear engineer, he has worked in the areas of fuel and core thermal hydraulic analysis, process safety and plant dynamic analysis, process design of primary systems and equipment, and studies related to growth in energy requirements in India.
He conceptualized the setting up of the Homi Bhabha National Institute as a university level institute. Concurrent with other responsibilities, he led it for eleven years. He participated in negotiations with other countries and international agencies leading to opening of international civil nuclear trade with India.
He was conferred with a Padma Shri in 2014 and has received several awards including Lifetime Achievement Award – 2011 by the Department of Atomic Energy. He is a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, and the World Academy of Art and Science.
Mr. Takashi Hara
Deputy General Manager
Tokyo Electric Power Company
Mr. Takashi Hara joined the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in 1993 and served as the fuel manager at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant from July 2009 until March 11, 2011. During that time period, Mr. Hara was in charge of core and fuel management, including the introduction of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. Following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, Mr. Hara’s responsibilities transitioned to stabilization of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, with particular focus on spent fuel pools. From September 2011 until July 2015, Mr. Hara oversaw the preparation and removal of fuel from the spent fuel pools of Unit 3&4. At the conclusion of his time at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Mr. Hara worked at the TEPCO International Affairs Office and is currently serving as the Deputy General Manager of the TEPCO Washington Office.
Ms. Laura Hermann
Partner
Potomac Communications Group
Laura Hermann is a writer, trainer and strategist. After seven years at PCG, she became a partner at the firm in 2013. She focuses on communication challenges that are unique to large-scale, long-term infrastructure projects. Laura works with clients across the fuel cycle, including nuclear operators, suppliers, national laboratories and international utilities in newly liberalized markets. She builds capacity within diverse organizations to prepare strategic communication plans that respond to controversial issues while strengthening public acceptance, stakeholder confidence and investor support. Laura holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University in Illinois and a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Chicago. She chairs the communication committee of the American Nuclear Society and serves as a designee to the American Association of Engineering Societies.
Mr. Donald Hoffman
President & CEO
EXCEL Services Corporation &
Co-Chair, USNIC International Working Group
Mr. Hoffman founded EXCEL Services Corporation in 1985 to provide specialized professional services to nuclear utilities in licensing and regulatory support. For more than three decades, EXCEL has become recognized as a premier worldwide supplier of enforcing operations and technical regulatory support services.
Mr. Hoffman is very active in the nuclear industry and is a Past President of the American Nuclear Society. He is also the president of Eagle Alliance.
Prior to starting EXCEL, Mr. Hoffman served in the US Nuclear Submarine Navy as a senior reactor operator and engineering officer and as a Manager and lead reviewer at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviewing License Applications and Technical Specifications.
Mr. John L. Hopkins
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
NuScale Power
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.
Mr. Simon Irish
Chief Executive, Director
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. Hirobumi Kayama
Special Advisor, Ministry of Economic, Trade, and Industry (METI), Japan;
Director, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), New York
Hirobumi Kayama is a Special Advisor to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) and the Director of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)’s headquarters in New York. He has previously held many government positions, including Director of the Office for International Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) in METI (2011-2015), Senior Deputy Director of the Policy Planning and Coordination Division in the Minister’s Secretariat (2009-2011), and the Deputy Director of the Petroleum and Gas Division of ANRE (2002-2005). Mr. Kayama received his Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Tokyo in 1995 and his dual Master’s degrees of International and Public Affairs and Law (LL.M.) from Columbia University in 2002, a year in which he also passed the Bar in New York.
Mr. Llewellyn King
Executive Producer
White House Chronicle
Llewellyn King is the host and executive producer of "White House Chronicle" — a news and public affairs program airing on PBS and public access television channels nationwide, and on XM Satellite Radio.
He is also a nationally syndicated columnist.
A journalist for more than 50 years, Mr. King has worked for Time, London's Daily Mirror, the BBC, The New York Herald Tribune — and The Washington Post.
Prior to the 1973 energy crisis, he founded The Energy Daily — the flagship of King Publishing Group, his newsletter publishing company, whose other titles included Defense Week and New Technology Week.
Mr. King has commented on a range of subjects for the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," NPR, CNN, C-SPAN and Voice of America.
He is the author of "Washington and the World — 2001-2005," a collection of his op-ed columns distributed by Knight-Ridder Syndicate and published in newspapers throughout the United States, including The Miami Herald, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Columbus Dispatch and The Providence Journal.
Mr. KP Lau
President
Fraser Energy Consulting, LLC
KP Lau is President of Fraser Energy Consulting, LLC, a firm that provides international nuclear energy consulting services with a particular focus on China. The major recent accomplishments of Fraser Energy Consulting were in the areas of bridging nuclear R&D between the US national labs and the Chinese counter parties (such as the Chinese Academy of Science and Tsinghua University), developing nuclear equipment and technology market in China for the US companies and promoting nuclear safety culture to the international standards in China. In this role, Mr. Lau has been dealing with the management of relevant corporations, senior governmental and regulatory officials of both countries.
Previously, Mr. Lau was with the Department of Energy where he directed international nuclear cooperation activities for the Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE). In 2008, he resigned from DOE to participate in Senator John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign as a member of the Energy Advisory Committee and served as one of his surrogates in energy policy debates during the campaign.
Mr. Lau has over 40 years of energy experience in technical, management, legislative and commercial areas. Legislatively, he served first as an AAAS/IEEE Congressional Engineering Fellow in 1984, and then as a professional staff in the R&D Subcommittee of Senate’s Energy and Natural Resource Committee and also with the Environment and Public Works Committee. Later, he was vice president of American Nuclear Energy Council, a predecessor to Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), from 1989 to 1992 with a portfolio of legislative activities that include advanced reactors, uranium enrichment privatization, and nuclear power plant licensing reform. While working for DOE, he was detailed back by request from Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), then the Ranking Republican member, to the Senate Energy Committee in 2007 as Sr. Nuclear Energy Advisor.
At DOE, Mr. Lau participated in the formulation of U.S. international nuclear energy policy and led the development, negotiation, and implementation of bi-lateral and multi-lateral international agreements on nuclear energy R&D with international agencies and foreign partners which included France, Japan, South Korea, Russia and China.
He has served as a steering committee member of both the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency in Paris, and the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. He has served as a Policy Group member of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF), and negotiated the system agreements on high temperature gas cooled reactors and Sodium cooled fast reactors. He led technical teams to Beijing and Moscow and successfully led the effort to admit Russia and China into GIF membership. He played a leading role in the drafting and the interagency review for the MOU that permitted the technology transfer and the sale to China of Westinghouse AP 1000 nuclear reactors.
Prior to DOE, Mr. Lau was president of an independent consulting firm that focused on the energy sector in China for nine years and a partner with former Senator Bennett Johnston (DLA) in Johnston Development Company for four years, and he worked for Duke Power for 18 years in power plant design, management and governmental affairs.
Mr. Lau holds a BSEE from UNC-Charlotte. He is registered professional engineer in North Carolina and South Carolina. He currently serves on the IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee as an at-large member and on the International Committee of the American Nuclear Society. Previously, he served as IEEE NC Council Chairman and Chairman of Automatic and Supervisory System Subcommittee, Substation Committee of PES. He received many leadership and publication awards. Notably, he was selected to represent PES in the IEEE BiCentennial film celebrating the achievement of electrical power engineering. He speaks fluent Chinese including the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects.
Ms. Lauren Mayros
International Policy Analyst
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Lauren Mayros is an International Policy Analyst in the Office of International Programs at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Before commencing her current position, Ms. Mayros worked as a Licensing Officer in the NRC’s international office and also spent six months on rotation to the Department of State, in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. Her areas of expertise are nuclear nonproliferation, export controls, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, 123 agreements, and nuclear security. Prior to joining the U.S. government, Ms. Mayros worked for the Nuclear Suppliers Group Secretariat in Vienna, Austria. Ms. Mayros received her Bachelor’s Degree from Emory University in International Studies and a Master’s Degree in International Security Studies from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Dr. Corey McDaniel
Vice President, Business Development
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories
Dr. Corey McDaniel is Vice President, Business Development for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. Previously he served as director of international programs at INL with responsibilities for international and commercial cooperation and small modular reactor deployment. In this role he supported the DOE office of international cooperation and developed new INL collaborations with international partners. Before joining INL, Dr. McDaniel served as the international business head of NuScale Power in Mumbai, India and with a nuclear-qualified electrical supplier in Hong Kong, China. Dr. McDaniel also served as the senior energy advisor to three U.S. Senators and as a nuclear safety analyst at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
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. Paul Murphy
Managing Director, Energy Group
Gowling WLG
Paul Murphy’s practice focuses covers multiple aspects of the energy and infrastructure project sector. From project development and structuring to contracting and financing, Paul's practice has spanned a variety of sectors, to include nuclear power, thermal power, renewable energy, PPP structures, pipelines, LNG facilities, process technologies, and emerging technologies.
In the nuclear sector, Paul has experience in multiple aspects of the nuclear industry – from legal and policy matters, including international regulatory and treaty frameworks and issues regarding nuclear liability, to strategies for creating viable nuclear power programs and the identification and mitigation of associated risks – representing developers/owners, investors, lenders, and contractors on nuclear projects globally.
He has been recognized by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency, the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation, and the US government for his knowledge and work in the development and financing of nuclear power programs. He currently serves on the IAEA’s Technical Cooperation Program team, which assists member states in developing nuclear power programs. He has served as a designated advisor, chairman, and author at several special meetings and for multiple working groups of the IAEA, NEA, and IFNEC, primarily involving the development, financing, and structuring of nuclear power projects.
He has served as a three-time appointee on the US Secretary of Commerce’s Civilian Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee and has been recognized for the last three years in the publication, Who's Who Legal: Energy.
Mr. Andrew Paterson
Principal
Verdigris Capital Group
Andrew "Andy" Paterson has more than 30 years’ experience working in the energy and environmental sectors. For Verdigris Capital, he advises a variety of clients on public sector and project finance, and on market strategy.
Previously he served as a Director for Econergy, a clean energy and carbon offset developer, where he managed consulting engagements on a variety of projects for energy, environmental and power sector clients in North America and abroad. During the last 10 years he served as a financial advisor to the nascent DOE Loan Guarantee Program, and as the lead commercial market analyst for a number of energy sector studies with the Department of Energy.
Andy has a BA from Stanford University in Human Biology and Environmental Policy and attended the Cornell Graduate School of Business. He speaks on energy trends and environmental topics to a number of trade associations regularly, and is a moderator for the CCS Alliance. He has contributed to Environmental Business Journal since its founding in 1989.
Mr. Alex Polonsky
Partner
Morgan Lewis
Alex Polonsky concentrates his energy and environmental practice on matters ranging from nuclear industry licensing, litigation, and investigations, to radiation toxic tort and Superfund litigation. He is a nationally-known resource and frequent speaker at conferences on nuclear export–related matters, including 10 CFR Part 810. As the firm’s facility security officer with a top-secret security clearance, Alex also supports investigations and litigation involving classified information. Alex’s prior career as an environmental consultant allows him to advocate effectively in technically-complex proceedings, to provide due diligence support for energy and environmental transactions, and to work seamlessly with experts.
Dr. Vijay Sazawal
President
IAEC Consulting
Dr. Vijay Sazawal is the President of International Atomic Energy Consulting (IAEC) in Maryland and a Nuclear Economics Consulting Group (NECG) Affiliate. With 40 years of nuclear industry experience in managing projects across the entire fuel cycle covering advanced reactor systems (Westinghouse), back-end (Cogema) and front-end (USEC), Dr. Sazawal has either led or participated at senior management levels in numerous government nuclear programs both nationally and internationally. He is particularly knowledgeable about government policymaking, promotion of civil nuclear exports, and international nuclear commerce. He was a subject matter expert on the U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement for the U.S. India Business Council (USIBC), and continues to maintain contact at the highest levels of both governments on the subject. He also served for two terms on the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (CINTAC) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Dr. Sazawal has given numerous lectures on prospects for the U.S. civil nuclear exports at various prestigious institutions, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Ms. Katie Strangis
Senior Policy Advisor for Nonproliferation and International Security
National Nuclear Security Administration
Katie Strangis is an attorney specializing in nuclear nonproliferation and international security issues, with an emphasis on nuclear-related treaties and international agreements for the Office of the General Counsel for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the US Department of Energy, a position she has held since 2008. In NNSA, Ms. Strangis is a subject matter expert in such areas as nuclear export controls, bilateral civil nuclear cooperation (“123”) agreements, and international law with regard to nuclear nonproliferation matters. She mainly works with the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation and the Office of Defense Programs within NNSA.
In addition, Ms. Strangis advises client offices including Sandia and Los Alamos (New Mexico) and Livermore (California) National Laboratories on a variety of nuclear-related matters as they relate to national security, export controls, ethics, procurement and information law issues. Ms. Strangis also advises on issues involving nuclear waste disposal, safeguards and secure transportation. Ms. Strangis speaks frequently at conferences on nuclear export control matters.
Prior to joining NNSA, Ms. Strangis was an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of the General Counsel at the United States Department of Energy, where she handled matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the US Merit Systems Protection Board, including all phases of discovery, mediation and settlement negotiations. She also provided recommendations on draft legislation and advice on the application of laws and regulations affecting the Department of Energy, and served as a General Counsel selectee to the Department of Justice Interdepartmental pro bono working group.
Ms. Strangis is originally from Niagara Falls, New York. She received her juris doctor degree from the Syracuse University College of Law in 2003 and her bachelor’s degree, with distinction, from the University of Rochester in 1998. Prior to law school, she served as a paralegal at Covington & Burling in Washington DC. She is licensed to practice in New York and the District of Columbia.
Mr. Robert (Bobby) Wilson
Chairman, U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council;
President, CB&I Project Services Group, LLC;
Chairman, CB&I AREVA MOX Services
Robert (Bobby) Wilson is the current Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council – the leading business consortium advocate for new nuclear energy and the promotion of the U.S. supply chain globally. Additional, Bobby serves as President of CB&I Project Services Group, LLC and Chairman of the Board of Directors for CB&I AREVA MOX Services. Previously Bobby served as Vice President of The Shaw Group, a position he held for 25 years, until the company was acquired by CB&I in 2013.
Bobby commands a wealth of both domestic and international experience in engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance projects with over 40 years working on some of the most challenging enterprises in nuclear energy, fossil power, petrochemical, infrastructure, and energy sectors, holding positions at almost every level and area throughout his career.
Ms. Rosemary Yeremian
President
Strategic Insights Inc.
Rosemary is CEO and founder of Strategic Insights Inc., a market intelligence and business development advisory firm specializing in nuclear energy. Strategic Insights is best known for its publication of several in-depth market outlooks, including the 2015 SMR Market Outlook Report.
She is an Accredited Business Communicator and has been trained in Competitive Intelligence and Analysis by an ex-CIA analyst with the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals Association.
Rosemary’s work has enabled companies to grow by implementing sound business development strategies and tactics, and by providing insights to fuel corporate growth through market knowledge and competitive analysis. Her advice has steered between $5 million and $250 million on average to her clients.
Prior to founding Strategic Insights Inc., Rosemary was also responsible for Ontario Government Relations, competitive intelligence and analysis, Team CANDU coordination and activities, and Canadian marketing for Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).
Rosemary is also the Past Chair of Ontario Nuclear New Build Council.
Mr. Richard Stratford
Director, Office of Nuclear Energy, Safety & Security
U.S. Department of State
Richard J. K. Stratford is the Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Safety, and Security in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. He is responsible for guidance on international nuclear energy affairs, nuclear export control policies, nuclear cooperation agreements, nuclear safety, physical protection, radioactive source security, and international initiatives in nuclear energy technology.
Mr. Stratford’s office is responsible for overseeing the diplomatic aspects of U.S. participation in the Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD, and in April 2006, Mr. Stratford was elected to be the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the NEA.
Mr. Stratford is a frequent U.S. delegate to the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), where he has represented the United States in the IAEA's Committee of the Whole. Mr. Stratford chaired the Committee of the Whole in 1997 and 2005 and was one of the two Vice-Chairmen in 1999.
Mr. Stratford is the U.S. Head of Delegation to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the NSG's Consultative Group, and to the NPT Exporters Committee (Zangger Committee). He was the U.S. Head of Delegation and chief negotiator of the Nuclear Safety Convention and the Joint Convention on the Safe Management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste. He led the U.S. efforts to negotiate amendments to strengthen the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and was the head of delegation to the CPPNM Diplomatic Conference. He is a career member of the Senior Executive Service
(SES 5).
