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Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Center for Used Fuel Research: Building confidence in storage and transport
Used nuclear fuel storage and transportation have reached a critical juncture.
Dozens of utilities need reliable data on how used nuclear fuel performs in dry storage casks and canisters to extend regulatory licenses at sites across the United States. Likewise, the Department of Energy expects to take ownership of the used nuclear fuel—termed “spent nuclear fuel” in the laws and regulations governing its stewardship—and transfer it to one or more federal staging facilities for management and disposition.
Meanwhile, dozens of reactor companies are testing prototypes of advanced reactors and advanced reactor fuels. Eventually, regulators and industry must also verify the safety and security of storage methods for these advanced fuel types.
To help address these challenges, the DOE established the Center for Used Fuel Research (CUFR) in January 2026 for work related to the long-term storage and transport of used nuclear fuel.
UWC 2022 speaker
As Westinghouse’s Vice President of Long-Term Operations (LTO), Sonya collaborates with utilities throughout the world to ensure safe, reliable, and profitable plant operability beyond the original design basis. She is responsible for integrating solutions, leveraging the collective creativity and insights of the owner’s group, and driving the use of digitalization to modernize operations.
Prior to her current role, Sonya served for nearly ten years in Westinghouse’s account management organization, in various leadership roles, eventually as Region Vice President, where she was intimately involved with fuel and component supply, challenging engineering scopes, instrumentation and controls upgrades, outage services and first-of-a-kind technology development and delivery.
Sonya’s Westinghouse career includes leadership positions in Corporate Strategy, partnership development, product management and contracting. During her tenure as Product Manager, Steam Generator Services, she commercialized seven new products.
In Westinghouse’s New Plant business, Sonya completed an intensive training program in Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing principles. Thereafter, she led diverse teams involved with the first AP1000 contract, before becoming the manager of continuous improvement.
Sonya built a strong foundation of serving the needs of plant operators, beginning twenty-five years ago, as a Board-Certified safety engineer. She supported routine outage services as well as large-scale field projects such as chemical cleaning, steam generator sleeving, split pin, reactor vessel head replacements and 10-year in-service inspections.
Sonya holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, is a Six Sigma Black Belt, and is a graduate of Duquesne University’s Executive Leadership and Harvard Business Review’s High Potential programs.
Last modified August 4, 2022, 7:17am EDT
