The AdSTM team includes former NRC senior executives and staff, as well as former senior nuclear industry staff, with extesive hands-on experience in the licensing, safety assessment, and oversight of nuclear power reactors.
Mr. Sergey Katsenelenbogen is a Vice President for AdSTM’s Nuclear Operations since 2004. He has 32 years of experience in supporting the U.S. government agencies and US and foreign nuclear utilities. In the past 20 years, he managed projects on behalf of US NRC, DOE, DOD and the national laboratories. The projects are focused on regulatory capacity development, regulatory strengthening for safe use of radiation sources, reactor safety analysis, and spent fuel management.
Mr. Katsenelenbogen manages staff and oversees two programs in support of US NRC/OIP: International Regulatory Development Partnership (IRDP) and Radiation Sources Regulatory Partnership (RSRP) collectively operating in more than 35 countries and works with three regional regulatory networks including Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies in Africa (FNRBA), Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA) and Asian Nuclear Safety Network (ANSN) with the collective membership of over 60 countries. IRDP supports the development of the nuclear regulatory infrastructure in countries with emerging power reactor programs. RSRP is a regulatory strengthening program to establish regulatory oversight for safe and secure use of radiation sources. Mr. Katsenelenbogen manages support for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). For the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Mr. Katsenelenbogen managed licensing consulting project for the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine for the Chernobyl Shelter Improvement Program. For US DOE/DOD he managed the Core Conversion Program for three Russian plutonium production reactors on behalf of Scientech, Inc. In prior years at Scientech, Inc., NUS and Scandpower Inc., Mr. Katsenelenbogen performed safety analysis and fuel cycle calculations for US power reactors.
He holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from St. Petersburg Institute of Civil Engineers and a MS in Mechanical Engineering degree from MIT.
Richard Barrett has over 40 year of experience in the nuclear field including key positions at the US NRC between 1982 and 2007 and previously at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. As a senior executive at the US NRC he directed the Division of Engineering with responsibility for standards development, technical review, and licensing support for nuclear reactor oversight. Between 1995 and 1998, Mr. Barrett directed the NRC Emergency Response Center in development of the response program; maintenance of 24/7 operational readiness; and interface with federal agencies, state governments and local officials. He directed NRC licensing activities for 13 commercial nuclear power plants. Mr. Barrett directed the NRC program of risk-informed regulation, and oversaw the development of methods and processes for applying probabilistic risk assessment to the safe design and operation of nuclear power reactors.
Mr. Barrett is currently a Principal Systems Analyst with AdSTM, where he has focused on development and delivery of workshops and training for nuclear regulatory agencies in emerging nuclear countries. He has conducted training courses and workshops for regulatory bodies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Central Europe. Mr. Barrett also supports the NRC safety program by training NRC staff on the licensing of operating reactors, and by performing regulatory assessments for NRC rulemakings. Mr. Barrett has provided consultation to reactor vendors on options for the licensing of standard designs, and has provided expert consultation in legal proceedings.
For the past 6½ years, Mr. Bateman has worked for AdSTM developing procedures and training modules for the IRDP program and delivering training as part of this effort. Other activities include PSAR technical review, development of a nuclear plant construction inspection program, consultation on implementation of construction inspection, and other training activities.
He came to AdSTM with 45 years of experience in various aspects of nuclear power including over 29 years of federal regulation of commercial nuclear power plants and 14 years in the nuclear power industry. He has experience in: program planning / management in various executive positions; engineering services, including radiological and nuclear related test and evaluation; various phases of design, construction, inspection, testing, operations, and maintenance of power plant systems; system materials; welding and applicable codes and standards; quality assurance/management; interaction with media and public affairs; and international program support.
He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania; some graduate level schooling in Ocean Engineering at the University of Rhode Island, and is a Registered Professional Engineer.
Mr. Robert Gramm was employed by the USNRC from 1982 through 2011, and has a BS in Engineering Science and Mechanics. He has 29 years of nuclear regulatory experience related to inspection, quality assurance, licensing, operational plant assessment, and license renewal. During the earlier part of his NRC career, Mr. Gramm was assigned as the on-site construction resident inspector at three facilities. As the NRC senior resident inspector, he was responsible for implementing broad portions of the construction and preoperational inspection programs. He also has headquarters multi-disciplinary team inspection experience. During the latter portions of his career with the NRC, Mr. Gramm was a first level supervisor, responsible for quality assurance program reviews and operating plant licensing activities. Mr. Gramm additionally had team leader responsibility for significant agency initiatives including the introduction of safety culture into the operating reactor assessment and inspection programs, and the second revision of the regulatory guidance documents used for operating reactor license renewal.
Since August 2013, Mr. Gramm has worked for AdSTM delivering in-country training seminars and workshops for emerging nuclear countries in support of the USNRC Office of International Programs. He has also delivered training in support of USNRC staff development and provided Quality Assurance support to the JNRC.
Richard Emch has 40 years of experience in the regulation of research and power reactors. He retired from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission after 37 years. He worked in a large range of technical areas including occupational and public radiation protection, emergency preparedness, design basis accident dose assessment, technical specifications, probabilistic risk assessment, severe accident mitigation alternative analyses, environmental impacts, inspection, and project management. He was also Director of the Protective Measures Team at the NRC's Emergency Operations Center for 15 years. In his last 10 years at NRC, he prepared environmental impact statements for license renewal and new reactor licensing.
Since joining AdSTM in 2011 as a senior health physicist, Mr. Emch has developed and conducted training courses for governments of embarking countries in nuclear power. He has conducted Nuclear Executive Workshops and Siting Workshops as well as courses in emergency preparedness and environmental impacts for countries in the Arab Atomic Energy Agency and the Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies of Africa.
Mr. Mel Fields was employed by the USNRC from 1975 through 2007, and has a BS in Nuclear Engineering and MS in Mechanical Engineering. As a technical reviewer during the earlier part of this NRC career, in the areas of Containment Systems, Plant Systems, and Reliability and Risk analysis, Mr. Fields prepared and presented expert testimony on licensing hearings for several proposed nuclear power plant sites, coordinated the issuance of a NUREG report on the ability of the Mark III containment design to adequately cope with the complex vent clearing and pool swell phenomena following a postulated LOCA, and reviewed event trees, fault trees, and critical assumptions associated with PRA submittals. During the latter half of his career with the NRC, Mr. Fields was a project manager (PM), responsible for coordination activities for a number of nuclear power plants. He was involved in the licensing of the Comanche Peak units from 1988 until 1992, the operating PM for the Palo Verde units for 9 years, the operating PM for the San Onofre units for 6 years, and the operating PM for the Waterford unit for 2 years.
After retiring from Federal service in 2007, Mr. Fields supported NRC in its AP1000 related licensing activities for several years. Mr. Fields worked closely with NRC technical, project, and legal staff to develop the safety evaluation reports needed to support licensing of the Vogtle, Summer, and TVA nuclear power plants based on the AP1000 design. Currently employed by AdSTM, Mr. Fields supports the NRC's IRDP program, providing training for the regulatory staff of foreign countries on reactor safety and regulation. Mr. Fields has also contributed to IAEA efforts in developing workshops on regulatory aspects of nuclear power and has participated in IAEA expert missions to other countries.
After a 27-year career with the NRC, Mr. Fischer became the director of the IRDP program in January 2011. As the Director of the IRDP he expanded the repertoire of IRDP courses and partner countries. He personally developed and delivered numerous IRDP courses and workshops. He has about forty years of technical and managerial experience in the nuclear energy and regulatory field.
He has extensive experience reviewing operating licenses, early site permits, design certifications, and combined license applications. Key areas of expertise include: nuclear power plant design, construction, and operation; component and system testing; operational events assessment; technical specifications; nuclear quality assurance and commercial dedication; ASME Operations and Maintenance Code; probabilistic risk assessment; and emergency planning and protective measures. Mr. Fischer worked on the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) staff, as a Commissioner's technical assistant, as an inspector, as a senior technical reviewer, and as a section chief in the Events Assessment and Technical Specifications Branches. After he retired from Federal service, Mr. Fischer supervised compilation of the NRC staff's safety evaluation reports (SERs) associated with the U.S. EPR design certification application and Calvert Cliffs combined license application reviews. He also provided similar SER integration services for the regulatory authority of a foreign government embarked on licensing its first nuclear power plants.
Mr. Fischer is a retired Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He is a nuclear-trained qualified submarine officer who served on the new construction crew of a nuclear fast attack submarine. He also served as a Chief of Naval Operations briefer in the pentagon's Navy Command Center and served as senior watch officer for major NATO and US exercises.
Mr. Fleishman has over 50 years of experience in the nuclear industry, 24 of which were at the NRC. During his last 5 years at the NRC, he was a Technical Assistant to Commissioner Kenneth C. Rogers where he provided advice and consultation on the safety of nuclear reactors. In particular, he was actively involved in major NRC actions related to the decommissioning of nuclear power reactors, renewal of plant operating licenses, siting of new power plants, and approval of advanced reactor designs. He was the primary liaison for the Commissioner within the Research Reactor community. Since leaving the NRC, he worked as a consultant in nuclear energy and served as a member of the Safety Assessment Committee for the Research Reactor Facility at NIST.
Early on at the NRC, Mr. Fleishman held staff and management positions in the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, responsible for major rulemakings related to transportation, nuclear reactor and material safety, and the training and qualification of nuclear power plant personnel. He wrote numerous regulatory guides on loss of coolant accidents, reactivity initiated accidents, decommissioning of nuclear reactors, and experiments in research reactors. He developed major NRC regulations related to prototype testing, safety at multi-unit reactor sites, updating of final safety analysis reports, hydrogen control, emergency core cooling system design criteria, use of high burnup fuel, and degree requirements for senior reactor operators.
At AdSTM, he has worked on the IRDP program by developing and delivering training, the Terrapower project by developing a “roadmap” for evaluating the TP-1 design, and with the DOE by helping to develop a set of evaluation criteria and framework for their use in the evaluation of advanced reactor concepts. He has worked with the NRC staff to prepare a regulatory basis to consider a rulemaking to streamline and enhance the non-power reactor license renewal process. Under the auspices of the IRDP program, he has provided technical assistance and support to the Jordan Nuclear Regulatory Commission in evaluating the safety of the Jordan Research and Training Reactor that is under construction.
Mr. He has 20 years of nuclear experience. He joined AdSTM in 2003. Mr. He has worked on a variety of projects related to advanced reactor technologies and licensing, regulatory infrastructure development, safety analysis, and training. He participated in design of a 600MWe PWR; conducted advanced reactor control research and two-phase natural circulation experimental studies; supported DOE programs: AFCI, Generation IV, and Advanced Reactor Program; and provided consulting services to a reactor vendor on safety design and licensing of a non-LWR reactor. Mr. He has hands-on experience with several computer codes, including TRACE, RELAP, COBRA, MCNP, SAPHIRE, WinMACCS/MACCS2, and SECPOP.
Mr. He has been supporting the U.S. International Regulatory Development Partnership (IRDP) in the past few years, developing regulatory documents and training materials, and conducting workshops for foreign regulators. Mr. He has also involved in developing two U.S. NRC training courses for its employees: mechanical codes and standards, and fundamentals of reactor licensing. Working with Dr. Charlie Miller, Mr. He recently completed a report for NRC on comparing Japanese and NRC's regulations that were in effect prior to the Fukushima accident. Mr. He is knowledgeable in NRC regulations and regulator processes, IAEA safety standards, and nuclear regulations of foreign countries (i.e., Japan, Finland).
Mr. He holds a MS Degree in Nuclear Engineering from The Penn State University and a BS degree in Nuclear Engineering from Harbin Engineering University (former Harbin Shipbuiling Engineering Institute), China.
Mr. Imbro has worked in the commercial nuclear power industry since 1969 and has a broad knowledge of light water reactor (LWR) construction, design and operation and Small Modular Reactors. Mr. Imbro began his nuclear career with Combustion Engineering, a nuclear steam supply system vendor, and was involved with the design of the reactor coolant and accident mitigation systems. Mr. Imbro also worked for an architect/engineering firm as a systems designer for balance of plant and other A/E supplied systems and, for the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) retiring in early 2008 after 33 years. During his tenure at the NRC, Mr. Imbro led and managed many multi-disciplined inspection teams that conducted design reviews both onsite and at the offices of architect/engineering firms that had design responsibility for the nuclear power plants. Mr. Imbro also managed the design inspection effort for the recovery of the Millstone 3 and Sequoyah units that were shutdown for several years due to configuration control issues. For the last 17 years with the USNRC, Mr. Imbro held senior management positions and was involved in the resolution of numerous and varied issues across many technical disciplines. Mr. Imbro has also served on many technical standards writing committees sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Nuclear Society (ANS). Mr. Imbro has actively participated on ASME Committees dealing with pressure boundary design and repair, operations and maintenance, and nuclear quality assurance for more than 20 years.
Following his retirement from the NRC in Feb of 2008, Mr. Imbro has performed consulting work for the NRC, other foreign regulators, and reactor vendors. Mr. Imbro is also an instructor for ASME, teaching a one-week course on Section III of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, “Rules for Construction of Nuclear Facility Components.”
Dr. Mallett has over 37 years of experience in the nuclear industry. He has been a senior leader in the United States Federal Government's Senior Executive Service. He has performed research in academic and medical center institutions, has taught university level courses, and has mentored numerous individuals who are now senior leaders in the U.S. Federal Government. He has experience in management, leadership, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) programs such as licensing, inspection, security, incident response, emergency preparedness, and radiation protection for new reactors, nuclear power reactors, research reactors, nuclear fuel cycle, academic, industrial and medical facilities. While at the NRC, he also participated in, overseeing and actually signing several significant rulemaking documents for changing the NRC regulations in 10 CFR Parts 20, 35, 50, 52, and 73.
Walt Meyer has over forty years of experience in various aspects of the design, operation and licensing of research reactors. He retired from his Chief Operating Officer position at the 10 MW University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) with 35 years of management oversight in progressively responsible engineering/management positions at MURR, the largest U.S. University Research Reactor. As a key member of the MURR engineering/management team he was involved in all aspects of security, emergency preparedness, daily operation, maintenance activities and proposed reactor modifications to assure safety and compliance with NRC regulations. This engineering/management team provided a strong emphasis on safety for all operational and maintenance activities, allowing the reactor to achieve unmatched utilization , operating 150 hours or more per week for over 30 years in support of radioisotope production for nuclear medicine research and application.
Mr. Meyer was appointed to a two-year term as a Project Manager in the Research and Test Reactor Branch of the NRC where he coordinated and assisted other Project Managers in reviewing license renewal applications and preparing safety evaluation reports for five research reactors. The reviews included all aspects of the guidance in NUREG-1537, including review of environmental reports and analyses of radiological consequences for a wide range of postulated accident scenarios.
He has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri; an MBA with Production/Operations Management emphasis from the University of Missouri; and is a Registered Professional Engineer.
Mr. Newberry has over 35 years of experience managing and directing nuclear reactor safety and regulatory programs and projects, including executive experience at the NRC. As Vice President and Manager of ISL's Nuclear Systems Analysis Division after retiring from the NRC in 2004, he oversaw many nuclear reactor safety activities for the NRC including reactor thermal hydraulic code development and assessment, license renewal application reviews, probabilistic risk assessment, and new reactor licensing technical support. In 2008 Mr. Newberry became an independent consultant, continuing to do new reactor consulting work including international licensing projects and workshops in China and Japan. Since joining AdSTM in 2010 as a senior consultant, Mr. Newberry works with the leadership of AdSTM to respond to the growing demand for expert consulting support around the world. For the NRC IRDP, he has conducted Nuclear Executive Workshops, Construction Permit Licensing, Safety Fundamentals, and Extended Power Uprate Training for Regulatory Authorities in Vietnam, Nigeria, Indonesia, Armenia, Thailand, Kuwait, Singapore, Namibia, Jordan, and South Africa. Mr. Newberry also provides expert licensing support to international clients.
Dr. Squarer has 45 years of experience in the conduct of nuclear safety and risk assessment, independent safety reviews, thermal hydraulics, nuclear engineering, advanced nuclear reactors, regulatory compliance, project management, strategic planning, research and development, policy and budget analysis, and international nuclear design and safety issues. He is highly experienced in regulatory affairs associated with the nuclear power industry. Dr. Squarer's experience includes 26 years of experience at Westinghouse and 3 years at EPRI. Since 1997, Dr. Squarer has been a consultant, providing technical support to US Federal Government Agencies, and leading a development of high performance light water reactor in Europe under the co-sponsorship of the European Commission. Amongst numerous tasks at Westinghouse, he formulated and managed the test program of the first passive reactor program – the Westinghouse Advanced Light Water Reactor Program (AP600) - during its conceptual design stage. The AP600 has later evolved into the AP1000, which is the leading advanced commercial nuclear reactor in the world.
While at AdSTM, Dr. Squarer assisted the DOE by performing independent reviews and assessments of current and future nuclear technologies. He has also been performing annual peer reviews for DOE on its grant program to universities and national laboratories. He authored generic reactor siting safety requirements document and reactor siting risk-informed review guide documents. He prepared training course presentations on reactor siting, reactor safety, reactor regulations, and Fukushima. He participated in the IRDP since its inception in 2008, and delivered training courses for the NRC on: reactor safety, reactor regulations, reactor siting regulatory requirements, construction permit, probabilistic risk assessment, codes and standards, the Fukushima accident, and quality assurance in: Vietnam, Thailand, Armenia, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Tanzania, Tunisia, and South Africa. He is scheduled to deliver additional training courses in 2014 in South Africa, Romania, and Ghana. He has served as the country coordinator for Vietnam since the inception of the IRDP program and assisted Vietnam in drafting its siting requirements for new nuclear power plants. . In 2013 Dr. Squarer participated –under the auspices of the OECD- in a six-person delegation to Taiwan to perform “stress test” of the operating nuclear power plants in Taiwan in accordance with the European stress test methodology.
Dr. Miller has 40 years of experience in the nuclear field including a number of executive positions held at the NRC over his 31 year tenure. His most recent position was the Director of the Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs where he had responsibility for nuclear materials safety and security, decommissioning of nuclear facilities, uranium recovery, agreement state programs, environmental impact analysis, and associated rulemaking activities. His career at NRC encompassed all aspects of the agency's regulatory duties including extensive licensing experience in reactors and materials as well as emergency planning and response. Following the accident at Fukushima, Dr. Miller led the NRC Near Term Task Force which provided recommendations to the Commission for enhancing safety in the 21st century. Prior to joining NRC, he worked in commercial industry in the areas of nuclear fuel cycle and reactor design.
Dr. Miller is currently a senior nuclear safety consultant with AdSTM, where he is focused on human resource development and Fukushima lessons learned for the IRDP for regulatory bodies in emerging nuclear countries and countries wanting to further improve their nuclear regulatory organizations for all utilization of radioactive material.
Mr.Salava has worked for AdSTM from 2008 coordinating various bilateral and multilateral assistance programs to establish regulatory oversight for safe and secure use of radiation sources in countries of the former Soviet Union.
Mr. Salava has over 40 years of experience in the radiation protection area including 23 years at the Czech radiation protection regulatory authorities. He worked in the regulation of wide range of technical, medical and natural radiation sources. He had extensive experience reviewing license applications. In years 2003-2006 he was appointed to Czech contact point for IAEA Code of Conduct and was responsible for management of the Czech national registry of radiation sources. Mr. Salava was also engaged into implementation of European directives into Czech radiation protection legislation in frame of EU accession process. Mr. Salava was editor of the Czech atomic laws in 1997 and 2002 and subsequent radiation protection decrees.
Mr. Salava served with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), The European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) on various international training, consulting and reviewing assignments.
Mr. Salava holds a MS degree in Nuclear Physics from the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and PhD degree in Biophysics from the Military Medical Academy in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic.
Richard Black is currently a Senior Regulatory Counsel with AdSTM. Mr. Black is the former Director, Office of Advance Reactor Concepts in the Office of Nuclear Energy at the Department of Energy (DOE). He has 30 years experience in both civilian and defense nuclear programs within the government and private sector. He retired from DOE in June 2011.
Mr. Black joined DOE in 1992 as the Director, Office of Nuclear Safety Enforcement. In 1994, he became Director, Office of Nuclear Safety Policy and Standards. In these DOE positions, Mr. Black was responsible for developing and maintaining DOE nuclear safety procedural rules and substantive technical requirements and standards for DOE nuclear activities. He was the DOE responsible official for responding to three Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recommendations. Mr. Black joined the Office of Nuclear Energy in 2006 as the Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Power Deployment. In 2010, Mr. Black became Director, Office of Advanced Reactor Concepts. This office is responsible for establishing and managing DOE programs and activities for advanced reactor technologies, including the small modular reactor (SMR). As Director, Mr. Black was responsible for establishing the SMR Program and obtaining approximately $500 million for a competitive government/private cost-share program for the development, licensing and deployment of new US SMR technologies.
Mr. Black began his nuclear career as a licensing attorney and an attorney for the Commissioners in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Before joining the Department of Energy in 1992, he was a nuclear regulatory consultant at TENERA.
Ricardo (Rick) Muñoz has 47 years of experience in the nuclear field. With more than 26 years of diversified experience as a regulator and manager with the Texas Bureau of Radiation Control (retired) and 15 years with the NRC (retired), he is certified as a nuclear materials inspector, certified materials licensing reviewer, certified uranium recovery inspector, and a certified reactor/non-reactor decommissioning inspector. As a Regional Manager and Enforcement Program Manager with the Texas Regulatory Program, he gained proficiencies and knowledge in materials inspection; licensing review; and the escalated enforcement programs. He has extensive knowledge of associated NRC regulations and oversight of the NRC agreement state program regulations and their enforcement and allegation processes. Other duties included managing projects related to implementation of policies and programs for security at licensed nuclear fuel-cycle facilities and licensed nuclear material facilities; implementing policy issues related to physical protection regulations; and analyzing the application of NRC physical protection requirements and standards to physical protection equipment and systems used in protecting nuclear facilities with IAEA Category I & II nuclear materials.
As a trainer with the NRC and educator as associate professor of radiological science at Austin Community College, Rick has provided formal in-class presentations and NRC sanctioned courses in Safety and Security of Well Logging Operations, Safety and Security of Industrial Radiography Operations, NRC Inspection Procedures, and 10 CFR Part-37 Nuclear Material Security Requirements for Agreement State and NRC staff.
Rick is also certified as an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) & Industrial Solid Waste inspector. He has extensive knowledge of NRC regulatory requirements and oversite of permitted/non-permitted RCRA facilities generating industrial & hazardous waste. Rick is currently a nuclear safety and security consultant with AdSTM, where he is focused on providing training and guidance related to regulation development; license application review; security and inspection of radiation sources: both nuclear materials and machine produced for regulatory bodies in emerging nuclear countries and countries desiring to enhance and further improve their radiation source regulatory programs.
He holds two Bachelor of Science degrees and a Master of Science degree. While in school, he worked for 4 years as a certified nuclear medicine and certified X-Ray technologist at a hospital.
Dr. Reese is the Director for the Oregon State University Radiation Center and Associate Professor in the School of Nuclear Science and Engineering at Oregon State University. The Radiation Center is a multifaceted research facility specializing in research related to the nuclear sciences. The facility houses unique capabilities including the 1.1 MW Oregon State TRIGA Reactor (OSTR), gamma irradiator, thermal hydraulics testing laboratories, radiochemistry laboratories, and extensive radiological spectral and counting equipment. His research focus includes neutron radiography, MCNP, thin-film detectors and reactor dosimetry. He obtained a PhD from Colorado State University (1997) in Radiological Health Sciences and a BS from Oregon State University (1991) in General Science. He also holds a Senior Reactor Operating license for the OSTR, is certified by the American Board of Health Physics, and is a member of the Organization of Training, Research, and Test Reactor Executive Committee.
Previously, Dr. Reese served as the Reactor Administrator of the OSTR for seven years. He is also the working group chair for two ANSI standards on research reactors. Prior to that he served as a Research Scientist at Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Research activities at Battelle centered on development of a CR-39 automated counting system for low energy neutron environments and responsibility for nuclear accident dosimetry technical evaluations and measurements. Dr. Reese serves on several committees that involve reactor operations, utilization and safety. Furthermore, he has served on multiple missions on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency as a subject matter expert related to strategic plans and utilization of research reactors.
Since joining AdSTM in 2015, Dr. Reese has delivered numerous workshops on research reactor regulation, safety analysis, emergency response, siting, and licensing all across the globe. Additionally, he has participated in several consultancy activities with research reactor regulatory bodies providing guidance on research reactor inspection, operator qualification, and safety analysis.
Peter Kelm has more than 40 years of experience in design, construction, commissioning, regulation and safety evaluation of power reactors with the focus on Russian PWR (WWER). He holds a MS (diploma) in Nuclear Engineering from Moscow Power Engineering Institute. First 15 years of his career he was working in different organizations and positions on design, construction and commissioning of WWER-440 and WWER-1000 NPP (Greifswald 1 to 5 (WWER-440), and Stendal I/II (WWER-1000), and two years with the East German Regulatory Authority SAAS as Inspector and of the Federal Board for Radiation Protection BfS.
From 1992 to 2016 Mr. Kelm was employed by the German GRS with two outside assignments: four years with IRSN and two years at IAEA. He worked in a broad range of nuclear and radiation safety areas, including systems analysis of operating and new (EPR, WWER-1000,-1200) reactors design, analysis of operational experience, and tests programs for specific reactor type.
He led projects and teams as Technical Project Leader in bilateral and multilateral projects in support of national nuclear regulatory bodies in Armenia, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine related to safety improvement, modernization, operational safety of their operating NPP, or within IAEA team performing design safety assessment of all operating Ukrainian NPPs. He was member of several IAEA and WENRA Safety Review Missions, lecturer, trainer and tutor to foreign trainees from countries embarking on a nuclear program, like Belarus, Vietnam, for competency development related to the review of the applicants’ documentation to construct an NPP.
Since 2016 he works at AdSTM on the NRC Radiation Sources Regulatory Partnership (RSRP), managing RSRP program activities in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries. He oversees projects to improve regulatory control over radiation sources such as conducting/updating country-wide inventories of radiation sources, developing new laws and regulations, improving regulator’s physical infrastructure and proving training to regulatory and user community. Mr. Kelm provides further direction to update and maintain the Advanced Regulatory Information System (ARIS).
Mark Tonacci has over 30 years of experience with nuclear power reactors. His work experience includes perspectives from both the industry and from the regulator. He retired from the U. S. Regulatory Commission in 2016 where he worked predominantly in licensing the new generation of reactors including AP1000, ESBWR, ABWR, and the NuScale small modular reactor. This regulatory work included issuing the one-step combined licenses (COL) for four US nuclear stations, and project management of numerous COL and Early Site Permit license applications for all areas of siting and operation, issuance of license amendments during construction, and pre-licensing readiness assessment. Prior to his time at the NRC, Mr. Tonacci worked in industry at a nuclear power station. Degreed as a chemical engineer, he was General Supervisor of Chemistry responsible for primary and secondary chemistry, liquid, gas effluents and waste shipping. His industry experience includes supervision of the urgent response engineering team, instrumentation and controls engineering and primary systems engineering and two years at the Institute for Nuclear Power Operators performing engineering evaluations and assistance to US and international nuclear power stations.
Since joining AdSTM in 2017, Mr. Tonacci has conducted training workshops and consultations for developing countries as part of the International Regulatory Partnership (IRDP). Training includes extensive breadth of considerations for siting a nuclear power plant. Work also includes consulting and training of foreign regulatory agencies on preparations for first time reviews of new nuclear reactors including licensing, organizational staffing and preparations, management, quality assurance, and infrastructure. This has included developing and delivering reactor application licensing workshops for multiple regulatory authorities including Poland and Ghana, as well as working with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Rich Holm has 40 years of experience in the nuclear power and research reactor field. He started his career in the Navy Nuclear Power Program and upon leaving achieved a BS in Electrical Engineering and MS in Nuclear Engineering. He worked as a training consultant in the nuclear power industry developing INPO accredited programs. As Reactor Administrator of a TRIGA research reactor he was responsible for all aspects of the operation and safety of the University of Illinois Advanced TRIGA and LOPRA nuclear reactors including the following: compliance with Technical Specifications and Federal regulations, license amendments, safety evaluations, emergency planning and security, equipment/system design changes and experiment review and authorization. He has extensive experience in the writing of surveillance and repair procedures and maintaining associated records. He also developed a task oriented training and requalification program for reactor operators. Upon the shutdown of the reactor he became Decommissioning Manager and developed the Request for Proposal and bid specifications for the decommissioning of the Illinois Advanced TRIGA reactor. He created an evaluation matrix for determination of contractor bid proposal award and provided University management oversight of contractor operations and interface with Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other interested parties during decommissioning. He has developed and taught university courses on decommissioning, nuclear power economics and nuclear power operations.
Since coming to work for AdSTM he has developed and taught research reactor focused training for the NRC IRDP in Vietnam, Thailand, Peru, Tunisia and Ghana. These workshops have encompassed NRC regulations and inspections, initial licensing and renewal, safety analysis reports, operator training and emergency planning.
Mr. Lawrence Kokajko has over 40 years of diverse nuclear-related experience in operations, training and education, and regulation; holding such positions as operator, instructor, project manager, technical assistant, and manager and senior executive of professional staff, as well as consultant. With 28 years of experience with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, he was involved with nuclear power plant operations and licensing, including research and test reactors; high-level waste policy and regulation (Yucca Mountain); interim spent fuel storage and transportation; environmental reviews; nuclear regulatory policy and rulemaking; and supervision and management of engineering, scientific, and administrative staff. Additionally, he obtained significant experience with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He was assigned as Deputy Team Manager for the IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service teams to Sweden, as well as the USG representative to numerous conferences. Further, he was the Nuclear Safety Attaché to the US Mission for International Organizations in Vienna, Austria, and attached to the US Department of State. He led early training program accreditation efforts as a consultant at both Grand Gulf and Perry stations. He also held a Senior Reactor Operator license at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station.
After joining AdSTM in 2016, he supported the NRC Office of International Program for International Development Partnership in both Romania and Peru. Further, he participated in consultation with the Jordanian regulatory authority on operational aspects of the Jordan Research and Test Reactor.