The New Space Race is Going Nuclear

Michael, Director of Fuel Innovation, leads the development of new nuclear fuel products and services at Westinghouse Electric Company. Under Mike’s leadership, the Fuel Innovation department leads the development of various new fuel technologies and products, including Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF), additively manufactured fuel components, and new nuclear codes and methods.

With more than 20 years of experience across the nuclear energy industry, aerospace and advanced manufacturing, Mike is an expert in launching and managing complex programs for high growth organizations. Mike’s career breadth spans new ventures, corporate venture capital, strategy, and R&D across international markets. He started his career at Westinghouse, leading Westinghouse’s activities in the Advanced Reactors and New Reactor Fuel Technology organizations. In 2015 Mike joined Alcoa Ventures to drive strategic innovation programs in clean energy and advanced manufacturing. Mike served as a board director of Phinergy Ltd from 2016 to 2019 while with Alcoa, developing strategies to fuel their international growth in advanced battery chemistry products. Before rejoining Westinghouse, Mike founded two companies focused on clean energy technology deployment.

Mike graduated from the honors program of Kansas State University in Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, where he obtained a Senior Reactor Operator license to operate the university’s TRIGA research reactor while a student.

Sebastian is a Sr. Technical Advisor, Advanced Concepts, for Idaho National Laboratory, Nuclear Science & Technology Directorate. Over his 20+ year career, he has worked as on reactor design and fuel development supporting advanced earth-based reactor concepts and as well as space nuclear reactors. Previously, he served as a lead engineer at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, and as a manager of Systems Engineering at General Dynamics Mission Systems. Sebastian is currently the Project Lead for the Fission Surface Power effort at Idaho National Laboratory. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Alex is a complex systems researcher with expertise in space mining, nuclear innovation, energy markets, and climate policy. Drawing on interdisciplinary methods and stakeholder engagement, he catalyzes development of advanced clean energy and other natural resource technologies.

As the Director of Space & Planetary Regulation at Zeno Power, Alex oversees regulatory approvals for space launch, maritime, and terrestrial applications of radioisotope power systems. Beyond supply chain licensing, he leads development of novel regulatory pathways for commercial and government clients.

Previously, Alex was Project Manager at the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, leading research and advocacy to commercialize advanced nuclear reactors to mitigate climate change. He was lead author of the U.S. Advanced Nuclear Energy Strategy, which outlined how government and industry can establish U.S. leadership in next generation nuclear reactor markets.

As an academic practitioner, Alex is a Fellow with the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, analyzing energy markets, energy security, and outer space policy. He is also pursuing a PhD and MS in Space Resources at the Colorado School of Mines, combining engineering and public policy to advance space resources, space environmental governance, and space nuclear power. His space-focused research has been published in Science, Space Policy, The Space Force Journal, and Scientific American.

Alex has a Master of Energy Regulation and Law from Vermont Law School and a BA in Environmental Studies and International Relations from Lake Forest College. He is also Adjunct Faculty at Johns Hopkins University co-teaching a graduate course on nuclear power technology, law, and regulation.

Kate Kelly is the director for Space and Emerging programs of BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT), leading the strategy and execution of the space and advanced manufacturing portfolio.

Prior to her current position, Kate was the Advanced Nuclear Systems Program Manager, focused on the development of nuclear projects to promote the company’s R&D interests in advanced manufacturing and nuclear thermal propulsion technologies. She also worked in project management, quality control and operational excellence within BWXT’s Nuclear Operations Group in Lynchburg, Va. Her previous responsibilities include managing a next generation reactor manufacturing development project, overseeing quality trending and performance initiatives, and leading cost reduction and improvement projects. She joined the company in 2012 as a system design engineer on BWXT’s small modular reactor (SMR) program.

For her work at BWXT and in the Lynchburg, Va. community, Kate was recognized by Lynchburg Business Magazine and Woman Engineer Magazine in 2020.

Kate earned a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame and has Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Management Professional® certifications.

Brad is the Director of the Government R&D Division of x-Energy, providing innovative nuclear energy solutions, especially through the development of transportable high-temperature microreactors, with a focus on supporting the missions of government agencies including Department of Defense, Department of Energy, NASA, and others. He brings more than 23 years of experience as a values-driven, hands-on leader providing innovative solutions and analysis approaches that have enabled advances in the design, deployment, and regulation of nuclear technologies, implementing successful outcome-oriented practices focused on quality assurance and team building in the realization of world-class capabilities.

Brad served as Deputy Program Manager and Director of Engineering in X-energy’s development of a megawatt class, containerized, transportable nuclear power system for DoD’s Project Pele and as Solution Architect for X-energy’s space nuclear programs including Lunar Fission Surface Power systems and space nuclear propulsion concepts.

During his 20-year tenure at ORNL, he led Modeling and Simulation Integration in the Reactor and Nuclear Systems Division, where he inspired innovation and efficiency through ORNL’s Nuclear Resources Analysis and Modeling Portfolio (ONRAMP) programs. Brad has served as technical or programmatic lead for $100M of applications-driven research, development, deployment, and training projects, for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and other domestic and international industrial partners. As the Director of the SCALE Code System from 2009-2018, he developed and fulfilled a progressive multi-year application-driven strategy to establish one of the world’s premiere toolkits for nuclear design, analysis, and regulatory review, licensed to 10,000 users in over 60 nations. Brad also served as the leader of the Integration Product Line for the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation program from 2015-2018 and as the National Technical Director of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s Nuclear Data and Benchmarking Program in 2018.

Brad is the author or co-author of more than 200 publications including peer reviewed journals, technical reports, and conference papers. He has held leadership roles in professional societies and international working groups and is the recipient of numerous awards for technical excellence, technology transfer, and mentoring. He holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Jeffrey completed his PhD in Nuclear Engineering in 2006 as a member of the Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies at the University of New Mexico. He served as an Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology from 2006 to 2009, when he joined the new Nuclear Science and Engineering Program at the Colorado School of Mines. Jeff has been at Mines since 2009 and is currently a Professor of Nuclear Engineering and the Director of the Mines Nuclear Science and Engineering Center. He has remained active in the space nuclear power and propulsion field as a charter Member and previous Chair of the American Nuclear Society’s Aerospace Nuclear Science and Technology Division. Jeff’s research spans a wide array of space nuclear topics including spectral shift absorbers for submersion criticality safety, space nuclear reactor control, space nuclear reactor shielding, and, most recently, the design and analysis of moderated low enrichment uranium fueled space nuclear reactors.