Keynotes
Arshad Mansoor
President and Chief Executive Officer
EPRI
Biography: Arshad Mansoor is EPRI's President and Chief Executive Officer, responsible for the institute's operation and its portfolio of R&D and demonstration programs, spanning all sources of generation, power delivery and utilization, and the environment.
Previously Mansoor served as senior vice president, research and development, responsible for leading the development of the R&D portfolio, effective collaboration in shaping and conducting research, and the effective application of research findings, including technology transfer. Prior to that, as vice president of EPRI's Power Delivery and Utilization sector, he led research, development, demonstration, and application of transmission and distribution and energy utilization technologies. He was vice president then CEO of the former EPRI subsidiary, EPRI Solutions, and vice president and director of engineering of the EPRI Power Electronics Application Center.
Beginning in 2007, he directed EPRI's Energy Efficiency Initiative to facilitate smarter power delivery and end-use. In 2012 Mansoor launched EPRI's Integrated Grid initiative, charting a course for the electricity sector to integrate distributed resources such as rooftop solar and onsite energy storage with utilities’ central generation, transmission, and distribution systems.More recently, he has guided and shaped EPRI's Efficient Electrification Initiative, examining the potential for economywide electrification to reduce overall energy demand and emissions while improving economic efficiency and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Today he is driving low-carbon research spanning the evolving energy system, interconnected energy technologies and emerging resources such as hydrogen. Focused on accelerating decarbonization across the economy, this work is identifying effective pathways to double by 2030 the U.S. energy-related CO2 emission reductions achieved since 2005—and to enable a more than 80 percent reduction by 2050.
Mansoor holds five U.S. patents in power electronics and distributed energy resources. He is a senior member of the IEEE and served as vice president of the U.S. National Committee of CIGRE, the international council on large electric systems, and as a member of the board for the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He has published numerous papers in journals and conference proceedings and has given talks and participated in panels at leading technical forums worldwide.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Mansoor earned his Master of Science (1992) and doctorate (1994) in electrical engineering, focusing on power systems engineering from the University of Texas in Austin. He completed the MIT Reactor Technology Course and the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.
Grace Stanke
Constellation
Former Miss America
Biography: It's not often that you find an athlete, engineer, musician, and a former Miss America all in one. Grace Stanke breaks misconceptions surrounding nuclear energy through social media, public engagements, and educational workshops. During her year as Miss America 2023, Grace was named the "New Face of Nuclear Energy" by the Wall Street Journal and was on the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Energy. While completing approximately 270,000 miles of travel, she finished her undergraduate degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since passing on the title of Miss America, Grace continues to travel to advocate for peaceful purposes of the science of the atom. Encouraging worldwide change for clean, zero-carbon emission energy sources, Stanke emphasizes the benefits of nuclear power and seeks to dispel the myths around nuclear energy while inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. In March 2024 Grace begins work as a Core Design Engineer at Constellation. Outside of the nuclear industry, Grace is an avid waterskier, classical violinist, and a travel enthusiast.
"I’m not looking to change the entire world on my own — all I need to do is make the one connection that will start a chain reaction."
Reactor Technology Deployment Plenary
Chris Goosen
Westinghouse Electric Company
Christopher Goossen has held the position of Director, AP300 Small Modular Reactor for Westinghouse Electric Company since May of 2023. Previously, Mr. Goossen has held the role of Director, Advanced Reactors Product Management. Mr. Goossen has held a number of roles with increasing responsibility including Director of mechanical and piping engineering, Director of Project Engineering for AP1000, and Program Manager leading resolution of all emergent issues during construction of six AP1000 reactors in both China and the United States. Mr. Goossen spent 3 years in Sanmen, China directly supporting construction of the first AP1000 units in the world. Mr. Goossen graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Mechanical engineering and Purdue University with a Masters in Engineering.
Dr. Mark Nutt
Manager, Nuclear Energy Sector
PNNL
Dr. Mark Nutt joined PNNL in September 2018 as manager of the Nuclear Energy sector, overseeing programmatic support of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and commercial and international clients.
Dr. Nutt also serves as the U.S. representative and is the chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Technical Working Group for Fuel Cycle Options and Spent Fuel Management. He previously served as the national technical director (NTD) of the Integrated Waste Management program in DOE-NE's Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition Program and was responsible for planning, coordinating, integrating, and managing a team comprised of national laboratories and contractors to support the DOE's efforts to implement an integrated waste management system for spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste.
From 2006 to 2018, Dr. Nutt served as a principal nuclear engineer in the Nuclear Engineering Division at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). He served as the deputy NTD of the DOE-NE Used Fuel Disposition Research and Development campaign. He was responsible for the management of that program, establishing research and development priorities related to the geologic disposal of nuclear waste, and performing technical work evaluating the performance of geologic disposal systems. He also performed research on the waste management performance attributes of advanced nuclear fuel cycles and investigated alternative disposition pathways and served as the co-chairman of the Waste Management Working Group under the U.S.-Japan Joint Nuclear Energy Action Plan. Prior to joining Argonne National Laboratory in 2006, Dr. Nutt spent over nine years working on the DOE Yucca Mountain Project performing a variety of activities in support of DOE’s efforts to develop a license application for submittal to the NRC for authorization to construct a geologic repository. He also has assessed the performance of facility designs for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste and spent four years as a reactor support engineer at a nuclear utility.
Dr. Nutt received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in nuclear engineering from Iowa State University. He has also received management and leadership education and training, including completion of the Strategic Laboratory Leadership Program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Craig Stover
Senior Program Manager, Nuclear Sector
EPRI
Craig Stover is a Senior Program Manager in the Nuclear Sector at EPRI. Craig leads the Advanced Nuclear Technology (ANT) program which is focused on developing technology and solutions to support the deployment of the next generation of new nuclear power plants. Craig is also responsible for the Nuclear Beyond Electricity (NBE) Initiative.
Over his 10+ years at EPRI, Craig has worked in several different roles. Craig managed the Balance of Plant NDE Innovation program. He led the advanced manufacturing and materials area in the Advanced Nuclear Technology (ANT) program. Craig also worked in EPRI's Balance of Plant Corrosion (BOPC) program leading heat exchanger and thermal performance research.
Craig joined EPRI after spending 6 years with South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G). During his time at SCE&G, Craig worked on the VC Summer Project where he supported licensing and constructing two new AP1000 nuclear power plants.
Craig holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from Ohio University.