Spent Nuclear Fuel Management: Wasting Away or Chance for Progress?

Lake Barrett is an independent consultant in the energy field serving in both government and commercial capacities in the nuclear energy and nuclear materials management areas for over five decades. He currently actively supports the recovery of the Fukushima nuclear reactor accident serving as a senior advisor to the Japanese Government’s International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning and the Tokyo Electric Power Company. In these areas he has testified before the U.S. Congress and has provided extensive public media explanations.

At the Department of Energy, he served as the Principal Deputy (10 years) and Acting Director (five years) of the Office of Civilian Nuclear Waste Management reporting directly to five different Secretaries implementing the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, which involved complex scientific repository site evaluations and statutory processes, utility contract management and litigation, the integration of spent fuel storage and transportation considerations for existing reactor sites and for separate central storage facilities, and international and regulatory programs. Also, he served in Defense Programs (currently NNSA) as a director to change and improve national security, safety, and environmental protection cultures and operations at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant leading to the successful restoration of plutonium operations and safe decommissioning.

At the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, he served at multiple senior technical and executive positions including being the onsite Director and senior federal official for the clean-up of the Three Mile Island reactor accident in the early 1980s.

He also served in multiple reactor design, construction, operation, and decommissioning positions for both submarine and commercial power reactors at Bechtel Power and Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics, including the last nuclear refueling of the SSN Nautilus.

He has BS and MS engineering degrees from the University of Connecticut, is a registered professional engineer, Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, served on many national and international committees, and has received various honors such as the President’s Meritorious Excellence Award, Secretary of Energy’s Gold Award, DOE and NRC Meritorious Service Awards, and the Congressional Award for Exemplary Service Finalist. He is currently active in his Christ Venice Church as a Trustee/Leader, including serving on various international humanitarian missions.

Kara Colton is the Director of Nuclear Policy at the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA), the national non-profit organization of local governments impacted by Department of Energy (DOE) activities. She oversees the activities of the organization on nuclear energy issues including research and development of new nuclear technologies, waste classification, reprocessing, interim storage, nuclear workforce development, siting nuclear facilities and high-level waste management. She is also the co-author of A Community Handbook on Nuclear Energy: Understanding Nuclear Energy and Alternatives for the Future, a publication aimed at helping local communities identify and understand the myriad of issues associated with hosting a nuclear facility and the role they can play in its development.

Prior to joining ECA, Colton was the Program Director of the Energy and Environment Division at the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices. Her responsibilities included working with Governors’ designees and DOE to ensure the responsible cleanup of federal nuclear facilities, to highlight and encourage successful state strategies for encouraging energy efficiency and renewable energy resources, transmission siting and regional energy planning.

Natalia Saraeva is on detail to the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) where she serves as a senior advisor on consent-based siting and assist with Integrated Waste Management (IWM) Program. Saraeva came to NE on a detail from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) where she was an advisor on nuclear energy and recently served as the project manager for consent-based siting. Her over 15 years of experience in the field includes working in National Laboratories (PNNL and Argonne), a staffer for the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, and a fellow with U.S. Nuclear Industry Council, among other roles. She received her MS degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, BS in Nuclear Engineering and MS in Materials Protection, Control, and Accounting from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute.

Jackie (Kempfer) Siebens is currently the director of government affairs at Oklo, a private US-based company focused on commercializing fission-based nuclear power. She previously served as senior policy advisor with Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program, where she designed and advocated for policies that will drive innovation and deployment of clean energy technologies, with a focus on advanced nuclear reactors. While at Third Way, she launched the Resource Council for Advanced Reactor Developers which serves as a forum for collaboration among the nonproliferation, nuclear security, and advanced nuclear developer communities. She also advocates for the continued safe operation of the United States’ existing fleet of nuclear power plants.

Previously, Sievens was also an associate with the Nuclear Security Program at the Stimson Center, where she worked with the private sector performing analysis to develop comprehensive nuclear security standards, and incentivize industry stakeholders to reduce the risks posed by nuclear terrorism.

Sievens is a graduate of East Carolina University and earned her master’s degree from the North Carolina State University School of Public and International Affairs. Throughout her career, she has published and presented with numerous organizations including the International Nuclear Law Association, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, and the World Institute for Nuclear Security. She regularly briefs the U.S. Congress on matters related to the development of advanced nuclear reactors, and the application of nuclear security and safeguards.

Steve Nesbit founded LMNT Consulting in 2019 following a distinguished career with Duke Energy Corporation. LMNT Consulting supports clients on matters related to the nuclear fuel cycle, advanced nuclear energy systems, and nuclear nonproliferation.

Nesbit’s career at Duke Energy began in 1982 performing safety analyses in support of nuclear power plants. Between 1996 and 2005, he led Duke Energy’s efforts related to the use of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in its nuclear power reactors as a part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project to dispose of surplus plutonium from nuclear weapons. He also managed used nuclear fuel activities for Duke Energy. For nine years prior to retirement from Duke Energy, he was responsible for developing the company’s policy positions related to nuclear power, and interacting with industry and government groups on used fuel management and related issues. In addition to nuclear utility activities, during his career Nesbit worked on several DOE projects including the New Production Reactor Project, the Yucca Mountain Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal Project, and the Centralized Interim Storage Facility Project. He supported the U.S. Department of State on outreach to countries with developing nuclear power programs. He also served on the International Panel of Experts for the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s 2016, 2018 and 2020 Nuclear Security Index reports. He testified on spent fuel policy issues to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in 2017 and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in 2019.

Nesbit received Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Virginia. He is a registered professional engineer in North Carolina. He is a past adjunct faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he taught nuclear engineering. He became President of the American Nuclear Society in June 2021 and will serve in that role through June 2022. Some of his past roles with ANS include Chair of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Technical Group, Chair of the Public Policy Committee, member of the ANS Board of Directors, and Chair of the Piedmont Carolinas ANS local section. Nesbit lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife Shelley, and he enjoys skiing and hiking in his spare time.