Nuclear Energy Insight
Summer 2012—Richard Meserve, president of the Carnegie Institution for Science, and Aris Candris, formerly president and CEO of Westinghouse Electric, have received the nuclear energy industry’s top honors.
Meserve, formerly chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a global safety advocate, received the William S. Lee Award for Leadership. Candris was honored with the Henry DeWolf Smyth Nuclear Statesman Award.
The industry’s top leadership award was renamed in William S. Lee’s honor following his death in 1996. Lee, a leading advocate of nuclear safety, was chairman emeritus of Duke Power Co. and was the industry’s foremost leader. He was the first recipient of the industry’s leadership award in 1995.
The Smyth award, jointly awarded by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute, recognizes outstanding service in the development and safe management of nuclear energy. It is named after Henry DeWolf Smyth to commemorate a lifetime of achievement. Smyth was a Princeton University physicist who served on the Atomic Energy Commission from 1949 to 1954 and was a U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Established in 1954, ANS is a not-for-profit professional organization of engineers and scientists devoted to the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology. Its 11,600 members come from diverse technical backgrounds covering the full range of engineering disciplines as well as the physical and biological sciences.
Richard Meserve, An ‘International Leader In Nuclear Safety’Meserve is regarded as one of the world’s most accomplished nuclear policy professionals.
“Dick is a man I’ve long admired as an international leader in nuclear safety, law and public policy who has been the recipient of the highest recognition from several organizations and governments,” said William Johnson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Progress Energy and chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute, upon presenting the award to Meserve. “He has dedicated his career to the betterment of society, and our industry is a beneficiary of his leadership and service as a result of his contributions over the expanse of technical, regulatory and nuclear public policy issues.”
Meserve was NRC chairman from 1999 to 2003 and then became the president of the Washington, D.C.-based Carnegie Institution for Science, an internationally recognized scientific research organization. He also serves as chairman of the International Nuclear Safety Group, which is chartered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and is a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Recently, Meserve served as a member of Obama administration’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, which conducted a comprehensive review of policies for managing used nuclear fuel. The commission issued its final report and recommendations earlier this year.
“As chairman of the NRC in the aftermath of 9/11, Dick’s steady leadership and consensus-building within the agency led to concrete nuclear plant security enhancements supported in Congress and the White House on a bipartisan basis. We were fortunate to have his leadership at the NRC in that crucial time,” said Marvin Fertel, NEI’s president and CEO.
Fertel continued, “Dick’s tireless contributions to the paramount issue of safety in the nuclear energy industry have been immeasurable. He’s one of the most well-respected figures in the nuclear field on any continent. He fully embodies the essence of the William Lee Award.”
Aris Candris, A ‘Leader in Science, Technology And Innovation’Candris has had a distinguished career in nuclear services with Westinghouse Electric. He is the former president and CEO of Westinghouse Electric, a position he held from July 2008 to April 2012. Prior to serving as president and CEO, he held a variety of leadership positions. He began his Westinghouse career in 1975 as a senior engineer in the former Advanced Reactor Division.
“Aris Candris is an international leader in nuclear science and technology innovation,” said ANS President Eric P. Loewen, who presented the award. “His dedication to developing and deploying advanced reactor designs will benefit people worldwide for generations by expanding the use of clean, safe and reliable nuclear energy.”
Marvin Fertel said, “Aris Candris has helped instill a commitment to excellence in the nuclear energy industry that extends far beyond the offices and production facilities of Westinghouse Electric.
“I have no doubt that our industry will continue to owe him and the Westinghouse reactor design team a debt of gratitude in the decades ahead for their pioneering work to bring to market a new-generation technology to produce low-carbon electricity. The culture of innovation that Aris has fostered will help reassert American leadership in the export of nuclear energy technologies and services for many, many years to come,” Fertel concluded.
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