Speakers

Career history:

Richard Lester is the Japan Steel Industry Professor and Associate Provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he oversees the international activities of the Institute. From 2009 to 2015 he served as head of MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, leading the Department successfully through a period of rapid rebuilding and strategic renewal.
Professor Lester’s research is concerned with innovation strategy and management, with a frequent focus on the energy and manufacturing sectors. He is widely known for his work on local, regional, and national systems of innovation, and he has led major studies of national and regional competitiveness and innovation performance commissioned by governments and industry groups around the world. He is the founding director and faculty chair of the MIT Industrial Performance Center.
Professor Lester is also well known for his teaching and research on nuclear technology innovation, management and control. He has been a long-time advocate of advanced nuclear reactor and fuel cycle technologies to improve the safety and economic performance of nuclear power, and his studies in the field of nuclear waste management helped provide the foundation for new institutional and technological strategies to deal with this longstanding problem.
Professor Lester’s latest book, Unlocking Energy Innovation: How America Can Build a Low-Cost, Low-Carbon Energy System (written with David Hart), outlines a strategy for mobilizing America’s innovation resources in support of a decades-long transition to an affordable and reliable low-carbon global energy system. Professor Lester is also the author or co-author of seven other books, including: The Productive Edge: A New Strategy for Economic Growth; Innovation—The Missing Dimension (with Michael Piore); Making Technology Work: Applications in Energy and the Environment (with John Deutch); Made in America: Regaining the Productive Edge (with Michael Dertouzos and Robert Solow); and Radioactive Waste: Management and Regulation (with Mason Willrich.)
Professor Lester obtained his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Imperial College and earned his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from MIT. He has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1979. He is an advisor to governments, corporations, foundations and non-profit groups, and he serves as chair of the National Academies’ Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy.

Topic of Presentation:

Nuclear Innovation: Achieving Low-Carbon Economies

Career history:

Mr. William D. Magwood, IV is the Director-General of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) since September 2014. Prior to this position, he served from 2010 to 2014 as one of the five Commissioners appointed by the US President and confirmed by the US Senate to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). From 2005 to 2010, he provided independent strategic and policy advice on energy, environmental and technology policy issues. From 1998 to 2005, Mr. Magwood was Director of Nuclear Energy at the US Department of Energy (DOE). During his tenure, he launched several important initiatives including the Generation IV International Forum (GIF). He began his career working as a scientist for Westinghouse and managing electric utility research and nuclear policy programmes at the Edison Electric Institute in Washington, DC. Mr. Magwood, a US national, holds Bachelor’s degrees in Physics and English from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Pittsburgh.

Areas of expertise:

Policies for advanced research, nuclear technologies, and nuclear education

Topic of Presentation:

Nuclear Power an Emerging Economies: Issues and Perspectives

Career history:

Shigenori Shiga currently serves as one of three Senior Executive Vice Presidents of Toshiba Corporation.
In this role, Mr. Shiga provides support to the President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation and is responsible for oversight of strategy and operations for the Energy & Infrastructure Group, which includes the Power Systems Company, the Social Infrastructure Systems Company and the Community Solutions Company,  In his previous role as the President and CEO of Toshiba Power Systems Company, Mr. Shiga provided strategic, operational and financial oversight for all sub-divisions within Toshiba Power Systems, including the Nuclear Energy Systems & Services Division, the Thermal & Hydro Power Systems & Services Division, the Westinghouse Electric Company, and the WEC Coordination Division. Since July 2014, Mr. Shiga has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of NuGeneration Limited, a United Kingdom-based nuclear company and joint venture between Toshiba and ENGIE. In this role, he provides governance over the company as it seeks to develop a new-generation nuclear power station in northwest England.
 From April 2007 to June 2014, Mr. Shiga was the Executive Vice President of Toshiba Power Systems Company, responsible for corporate development and strategy. During this time, he was a member of the Westinghouse Electric Company Board of Directors and served as the Board’s Chairman from July 2010 to June 2014. His primary responsibilities included providing strategic oversight and overall supervision to the Board. From April to September 2012, Mr. Shiga was the Interim President and CEO of Westinghouse during the company’s search for a permanent president and chief executive officer.

Areas of expertise:

• Global business operations and management
• Leadership in cross cultural organization
• Strategic planning
• Nuclear engineering (over 30 years of engineering, project management and general management experience in the nuclear industry)

Topic of Presentation:

Sustainable nuclear energy development through 4th generation fast reactors and their associated fuel cycle

Career history:

Christophe Béhar, born 1957 in Paris, France, graduate of the Ecole Centrale de Paris (1982). He joined the French Atomic Energy Commission in 1984 to work on the isotopic separation of uranium. After holding several positions of responsibility within the Department of Enrichment Processes, in 1997 he was appointed Head of the Technology Department of Nuclear Fuel Enrichment.
In 2000 he was Director of Materials and Environmental Monitoring at the Military application Division of CEA. In January 2004 he was appointed Director of the Research Centre in charge of French nuclear weapons design and fight against nuclear proliferation.
Since April 2009, he is the Director of the Nuclear Energy Division, in charge of the whole nuclear energy sector (both Research & Development and dismantling).
Mr. Béhar is Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and of the National Order of Merit.

Areas of expertise:

Nuclear Energy / Nuclear Non proliferation / Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Topic of Presentation:

Sustainable Nuclear Power for Fukushima

Career history:

• Nobuo Tanaka is currently President of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation since April 2015.  He is also Visiting Professor at Graduate School of Public Policy of the University of Tokyo, where he is teaching energy security.  He is Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) as well as Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.
  As Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) from 2007 to 2011, he oversaw a seminal period in the Agency’s work and direction. Under his leadership, the IEA initiated a collective release of oil stocks in June 2011, the third such collective action in the Agency’s history, opening new scope and a new era for IEA emergency action.  He was responsible for pioneering the concept of ‘comprehensive energy security’ while also expanding the Agency’s focus on climate change, renewable energy and the transition to a low-carbon energy economy. He also played a crucial and personal role in the strengthening of ties with major IEA non-Member energy players, including China, India, Russia, etc.
• He began his career in 1973 in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in Tokyo, and has served in a number of high-ranking positions in METI, including Director-General of the Multilateral Trade System Department. In this capacity, he led many trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and for bilateral Free Trade Agreements. He was deeply engaged in a range of bilateral trade and economic issues with the US as Minister for Industry, Trade and Energy at the Embassy of Japan, Washington DC from 1998 to 2000, as well serving as the first secretary of the Embassy from 1982 to 1985.
• With a strong background in international affairs, He has served as both Deputy Director and Director for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Areas of expertise:

Energy Security Trade Policy, International Relations, Industrial Policy, Management of International Organization

Career history:

Areas of expertise:

Strategic leadership of established and emerging businesses

• Currently provide the strategic focus and leadership to license and commercialize NuScale SMRs for the U.S. while concurrently negotiating multiple sales and execution platforms for subsequent deployment in international markets.
• Championed and oversaw the Fluor investment in NuScale as a strategic investment to provide future growth to Fluor Power.
• Established and led TradeMC, a strategic capital goods sourcing venture jointly owned by Fluor, IBM and Royal Bank of Canada LLC, that leveraged Fluor-wide project purchasing volumes to drive efficiencies and quality.

Topic of Presentation:

Beyond Passive Safety-What the future demands for the next generation of nuclear energy

Career history:

Mr. Dickman is a Senior Policy Fellow with Argonne National Laboratory focusing on nuclear energy, nuclear safety, non-proliferation, and national security policy. For over thirty-five years Mr. Dickman has been involved in the forefront nuclear energy and national security programs in the U.S. and internationally. He has held senior managerial positions at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. He holds leadership positions in the American Nuclear Society and the World Council on Isotopes and advises organizations on risk communication. He also serves as a Special International Advisor to the Japanese Government on the decommissioning and remediation of the Fukushima accident site.

Areas of expertise:

non proliferation, nuclear safety, nuclear waste management