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Casting a wider net
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
Recently, a colleague related to me a conversation overheard at an industry forum in which ANS was referred to as a group of “academics” who were of limited use in expanding the workforce needed to deliver a nuclear resurgence.
While not new, this criticism still gets me hypertensive when I hear it. Many still see ANS as a bunch of academics and “labbies” disconnected from the day-to-day commercial nuclear race.
Yet, I also understand the charge is not entirely without foundation. Pop your head into a technical session at an ANS national conference, and you’re bound to hear academics presenting research that, to nontechnical ears, sounds esoteric.
As vice president of nuclear strategy & development for Exelon, Marilyn Kray leads major initiatives on current and advanced reactor designs to create growth opportunities that leverage Exelon’s nuclear operations competency. These initiatives include pursuing operational service agreements, both domestically and internationally, as well as engaging with advanced reactor developers in order to evaluate potential business opportunities and future technology deployment.
She served as president of NuStart Energy Development LLC, an industry consortium formed to develop the process for preparing the combined construction and operating license applications for the first new nuclear plant construction in the United States in over 30 years.
Her in-depth knowledge of the global nuclear industry comes from years of experience including as vice president of Exelon Nuclear Partners. In this role, she led international business development. Prior to this, she served as Exelon’s vice president of nuclear acquisition support, where she pioneered internal processes for due diligence and plant transitions. The result was the successful purchases of the Three Mile Island, Clinton, and Oyster Creek generating stations. More recently, she led the acquisition of the FitzPatrick nuclear power plant.
Marilyn began her career with Exelon in the licensing organization for the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. Prior to joining Exelon, she was a reactor engineer and project manager for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She has testified in front of Congress on multiple occasions regarding nuclear development in the United States. Throughout her career Marilyn has served in leadership roles as Exelon’s representative to the Nuclear Energy Institute and the Electric Power Research Institute.
Marilyn has been a member of ANS since 2007 and serves in the Education, Training, and Workforce Development Division as well as the Operations and Power Division. In 2007, she received the American Nuclear Society’s Utility Leadership Award. Other recognitions Marilyn has received include the World Nuclear Association award for Distinguished Contribution to the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Technology, and under her leadership the NuStart organization was one of four finalists for the 2012 Edison Award.
Marilyn is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering.
Read Nuclear News from July 2019 for more on Marilyn.
