Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS-2023) Plenary SPeaker

Dr. Sean O’Kelly

Associate Lab Director

Advanced Test Reactor

Dr. Sean O’Kelly has more than 40 years of nuclear reactor experience. He served as deputy director at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Center for Neutron Research. He also served as chief of Reactor Operations and Engineering at NIST and was responsible for the direction and management of reactor operations, maintenance and engineering for the NIST 20 MW test reactor. He has worked as a nuclear engineer at NIST and as a manager and reactor operator at Texas A&M University and The University of Texas at Austin research reactors. He served in the U.S. Navy in Idaho as a prototype instructor and reactor operator and on the USS Benjamin Franklin as a reactor operator. He holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, and a master’s degree in industrial engineering and bachelor’s degree in physics from Texas A&M University. He also serves as chairman of the IAEA Technical Working Group on Research Reactors.