NSSPI Director Dr. William Charlton traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to participate in a panel discussion on “The Role of Research Universities in Nuclear Science, Energy and Policy.” The panel took place on Dec. 11 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. and was hosted by TAMU/TEES and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). The panel featured researchers from Texas A&M, the University of California-Berkeley, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. K. Lee Peddicord and Dr. Charles Hermann also represented TAMU at the event. Dr. Peddicord is a nuclear engineering professor and director of the TEES Nuclear Power Institute (NPI). Dr. Charles Hermann is a professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service and director of the Master’s Program in International Affairs at TAMU.
The panel discussion centered on topics including nuclear energy, international collaborations and workforce development, policy, security, and waste. Attendees included representatives from the White House, U.S. Departments of Commerce and Energy, and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. At a reception after the panel, remarks from Congressman Bill Flores and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman stressed the important role Texas A&M – and research universities as a whole – play in training a new generation and future workforce that can maintain the country’s leadership in science and technology. The reception was also attended by several former NSSPI students who are now working in positions in and around Washington, D.C.