Dr. Peter B. Lyons, US Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, will present the inaugural NPRE Leadership Speaker Series talk on Thursday, November 20.
Lyons' talk, "Past, Present, and Future of Nuclear Power in the US," will be presented at 3 p.m. in Room 1122 National Center for Supercomputing Applications and is open to the public. He will cover the recent history of the US nuclear fleet; the connection (past and present) of US nuclear energy and national security; the budget of the Office of Nuclear Energy and where taxpayer money goes; recent loan guarantee announcements; the status of the office's Small Modular Reactor licensing technical support program; early retirements of nuclear plants and the carbon implications; and a review of plants currently under construction around the country.
Those planning to attend the talk are asked to register. The event also will feature a live webcast of Lyons' talk.
Providing a forum for global leaders to present policies and platforms that shape the sciences of nuclear, plasma and radiological disciplines is part of NPRE’s mission. The newly created Leadership Speaker Series, an effort of NPRE and its sponsoring alumni group, the Constituent Alumni and Industry Advisory Board, was created to help accomplish that goal and carry impact across the University of Illinois and beyond.
“This new speaker series will provide NPRE with the ability to invite major leaders in the nuclear and related areas to Campus,” said Department Head Jim Stubbins. “We envision this as an opportunity to provide the entire Campus community with a broader perspective on the things we do and raise the visibility of NPRE on Campus and beyond.
“We also see this as a golden opportunity for our students and faculty to interact with the top leaders in our community to exchange ideas and to impress them with our capabilities,” Stubbins said. “This is an annual event and in the coming years we expect to invite leaders from all parts of the Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological areas as well as those dealing with even broader issues of social and technical impact. We are extremely delighted to have Dr. Peter Lyons, a leader who has had such broad impact on the nuclear field, as the inaugural speaker in this series. He certainly sets a high standard for us to meet with future speakers.”
In addition to giving the talk, Lyons will meet during the day with UIUC and College of Engineering at Illinois administrators, as well as NPRE faculty and students.
Lyons was confirmed as the Assistant Secretary on April 14, 2011, after serving as the Acting Assistant Secretary since November 2010. He was appointed to his previous role as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) in September 2009.
Under Lyons’ leadership, the Office has made great strides in incorporating modeling and simulation into all programs through the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation program and the Energy Innovation Hub. He focused on management of used fuel by contributing to the development of the Administration’s Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste. In addition, NE established the Small Modular Reactor Licensing Technical Support program for a new generation of safe, reliable, low-carbon nuclear energy technology. And he championed the Nuclear Energy University Program, which has successfully supported NPRE and other U.S. universities in preparing the next generation of nuclear engineering leaders.
Prior to joining DOE, Lyons was sworn in as a Commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on January 25, 2005 and served until his term ended on June 30, 2009. At the NRC, Lyons focused on the safety of operating reactors, even as new reactor licensing and possible construction emerged. He was a consistent voice for improving partnerships with international regulatory agencies. He emphasized active and forward-looking research programs to support sound regulatory decisions, address current issues and anticipate future ones. He was also a strong proponent of science and technology education.
Before becoming a Commissioner, Lyons served as Science Advisor on the staff of U.S. Senator Pete Domenici and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources where he focused on military and civilian uses of nuclear technology from 1997 to 2005. From 1969 to 1996, Lyons worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he served as Director for Industrial Partnerships, Deputy Associate Director for Energy and Environment, and Deputy Associate Director-Defense Research and Applications. While at Los Alamos, he spent over a decade supporting nuclear test diagnostics.
Lyons has published more than 100 technical papers, holds three patents related to fiber optics and plasma diagnostics, and served as chairman of the NATO Nuclear Effects Task Group for five years. He received his doctorate in nuclear astrophysics from the California Institute of Technology in 1969 and earned his undergraduate degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Arizona in 1964. Lyons is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and was elected to 16 years on the Los Alamos School Board.
Lyons grew up in Nevada and is a resident of Washington, DC.