Advanced Nuclear Energy: Opportunities and Challenges
Overview
This program will update and engage the audience about the rapidly evolving opportunities and challenges of deploying hundreds of advanced nuclear reactors in the U.S. and globally. The panel of experts will address the state-of-the-art technology and future directions for its deployment, necessary policies, and potential paths to risk mitigation.
Greg Gershuny
(Moderator)
Greg Gershuny is the Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program (EEP) and Co-Director of Aspen Ideas: Climate, a public forum focused on climate solutions. The Energy and Environment Program works with people, organizations, and governments to take greater action on solving climate change. Prior to joining the Aspen Institute in 2016, Greg served as the Chief of Staff for Energy Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy, and in several roles at the White House, including Director of Energy and Environment at Presidential Personnel and as a Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy advisor under President Barack Obama.
Dr. Kathryn Huff
Dr. Kathryn Huff leads the Office of Nuclear Energy as the Assistant Secretary. Prior to her current role, she served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Secretary. Dr. Huff also led the office as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. Before joining the Department of Energy, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she led the Advanced Reactors and Fuel Cycles Research Group. She was also a Blue Waters Assistant Professor with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. She was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow in both the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium and the Berkeley Institute for Data Science at the University of California - Berkeley.
She is an active member of the American Nuclear Society, a past Chair of the Nuclear Nonproliferation and Policy Division as well as the Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Division, and recipient of both the Young Member Excellence and Mary Jane Oestmann Professional Women's Achievement awards. Through leadership within Software Carpentry, SciPy, the Hacker Within, and the Journal of Open Source Software she also advocates for best practices in open, reproducible scientific computing.
She received her PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2013 and her undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Chicago. Her research focused on modeling and simulation of advanced nuclear reactors and fuel cycles.
Josh Freed
Josh Freed is the senior vice president for Third Way's Climate and Energy Program. Josh oversees the strategy to advance policies and change the conversation so that the United States gets to net-zero by 2050 as fast and equitably as possible.
Since 2009, Josh has led Third Way’s clean energy and climate advocacy efforts, helping establish the program as one of the nation’s top voices on clean energy innovation policy, and using every low and zero-carbon technology to take on climate change. This includes Third Way’s groundbreaking research on advanced nuclear technology—which transformed federal support for nuclear innovation, as well as policy and communication on pathways to decarbonize the electricity, transportation, and industrial sectors while creating more jobs and economic opportunities. As part of this work, he regularly advises senior federal and state policymakers, philanthropies, academics, labor, and business leaders.
Josh regularly writes and speaks on climate, clean energy, and innovation issues. His work has been regularly featured in a variety of outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, POLITICO, Axios, Vox, The Los Angeles Times and Wired, and he has also appeared on NPR, Fox News, The Weeds, and Political Climate. Josh also serves on the board of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, an organization dedicated to equipping a diverse set of emerging leaders with the skills and expertise to lead the transition to a clean energy economy.
Prior to joining Third Way, Josh worked at the intersection of politics, advocacy, and policy, and technology as a Vice President at GMMB, where he advised the senior leadership of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He also served as the Chief Policy Advisor for Representative Rob Andrews and as Deputy Chief of Staff for Representative Diana DeGette. Josh earned his Master's from the University of Maryland, College Park and his Bachelor's degree from Brandeis University.
Jeff Navin
Jeff Navin is Director of External Affairs, and oversees TerraPower’s government affairs, public policy, communications, and stakeholder engagement efforts. He is a co-founder and is currently a partner at Boundary Stone Partners, a government affairs and communications firm advising companies, advocacy organizations, and public policy think tanks working to solve the world’s most challenging problems.
Navin has a deep background in government and communications. After serving in the federal government for over 15 years, he co-founded Boundary Stone Partners, a public policy, government affairs, and communications consulting firm specializing in clean energy and transportation. In government, he served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretaries Steven Chu and Ernest Moniz. In those roles, he helped manage the Department of Energy’s research and deployment efforts, climate and energy policy initiatives, and nuclear national security missions.
Navin received his B.A. from the University of South Dakota, and his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. He is a Harry S Truman Scholar and serves as Chair of the Center on Rural Innovation, 501(c)3 organization that supports economic development in rural areas.