b'2019 | ANNUAL REPORTK-Reactor, the Office of EnvironmentalNSUF through appropriate engage- the Office of Science, and the NSUF Management as the Mound Sitements with countries with mutualin advancing our understanding in program manager, the Departmentalinterests in the study of materials inall areas of nuclear energy research. Representative to the Defense Nuclearirradiated environments. Increasing this cooperation will Facilities Safety Board, and then aWhat changes do you see for NSUFcertainly offer a bigger bang for the second stint with the Office of Envi- over the next ten years?buck to the US tax payor. Finally, I see ronmental Management as the IdahoWith an appropriate budget devel- the NSUF moving beyond our borders High Level Waste program manager. opment scheme over the next tenand leading international cooperation What did you do prior to joining DOE?years and additional program officeto the eventual establishment of an After graduating from the Navalexpertise, it is very easy to imagine theinternational user facility based on the Academy, I spent eight years in theNSUF broadened its research areas toNSUF model of managing access to a Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program as ainclude such topics as radiochemistrymultitude of capabilities and facilities submarine officer. and thermal hydraulics. Particularlyto most efficiently address the impor-the addition of thermal hydraulicstant issues of the nuclear industry and What got you interested in experimental capabilities wouldgeneral nuclear research community.nuclear energy?be of high interest and use for theWhat do you like to do outside of I had planned to be a Navy pilot,nuclear industry. I see expansion ofthe office (hobbies, volunteer activi-but once that fell through, I chosethe great work the NSUF has done toties, interests)? to pursue the Navy nuclear programdate on establishing and maintainingOver the last several years, I have because it was a premier program anduser friendly databases to include allnot done well in this regard, so it is it paid quite a bit more than service inongoing and legacy research proj- my goal to work on this area going the conventional surface fleet. Whenects involving irradiations tests andforward. Ask me again in three years!I left the Navy in 1991, there was apost irradiation examinations. With strong pipeline of nuclear Navy staffNSUF curating these databases, they joining DOE. could be made available for machine What is your involvement with NSUF?learning and artificial intelligence (AI) I am part of the headquarters manage- applications that may really accelerate ment team for NSUF, and in that rolethe advancement of nuclear energy we coordinate with Dr. Kennedy andconcepts and discovery. Because his senior staff to develop and defendof the growing recognition of the our annual budget requests, set majorimportance of nuclear energy to the NSUF policies and priorities, andUS total energy mix, I see much closer work issues as they arise. Ive alsocooperation between other large user participated in a number of interna- facilities, for example those from tional conferences to help grow the 29'