It’s March! Which means no one has any idea what the weather is going to do. Could rain, could snow, could be 105 degrees (Celsius or Fahrenheit). We just don’t know. But what we do know is that it’s Women’s History Month! We also know that women, despite being largely underrepresented and underappreciated for just about forever, have been at the forefront of major innovations across every aspect of life, and nuclear is no different. So, for this Women’s History Month, we wanted to highlight some women who have played a major part in the development of our industry!
Well before we had the internet and endless research tools at our disposal, there was the great work of Lise Meitner. In 1906 Lise received her doctorate from the University of Vienna, and a trail of accomplishments followed. She was among those who studied nuclear isomerism (nuclear isomers can be used in nuclear medicine and more), she escaped Nazi Germany in 1938, and she worked with Otto Hahn to discover nuclear fission. She was also offered a role with the Manhattan Project, which she rejected. There is now a radioactive element named after her, meitnerium, in honor of all of her work in the field.
Katharine Way, on the other hand, was one of the leading physicists on the Manhattan Project. When WWII began, Katharine was studying neutron sources at the University of Tennessee when she found her way to the project. She eventually worked at the Chicago Metallurgical Library, where she came up with some of the calculations required to build Chicago Pile-1, the world’s first artificial nuclear reactor. She later went on to create the Nuclear Data Project to organize and share nuclear data. Katharine is now known as ‘The Mother of Nuclear Data’ by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Dr. Baranwal is a woman who has worn many hats, all of which have had a major impact on the world of nuclear. She’s done it all, really; she was the Director of the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear at Idaho National Laboratory before being sworn in to be the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Energy at the DOE in 2019. Since then, she’s been the Chief Technology Officer at Westinghouse and now leads the deployment of the AP300™ Small Modular Reactor. Whether she’s working on the more technical aspects of nuclear or the big picture planning around it, Dr. Baranwal has her fingerprints all over the present and future of nuclear energy.
Not many people can say they have a doctorate in nuclear energy (she became the first Black woman to receive one in 2010). Not many people can say they were on Survivor. Dr Hart can say both of those things. As if starting her freshman year of college at just 15-years old wasn’t impressive enough, she had to one up herself with those other accomplishments. She currently serves as the Director of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Division at the Idaho National Laboratory, where she was previously the Chief Scientist of the National and Homeland Security Directorate. She also founded STEM Queens to help get more Black girls interested in STEM. Oh, and not to mention she's a two-time guest on the AWARD-WINNING podcast, Fissionary. (Shameless plug, yes.)
As part of empowering women, NEI is also proud to work with U.S. WIN, a national organization with the mission to push the United States in nuclear energy and technology through the advancement of women. NEI works with U.S. WIN on programs like the Nuclear Executives of Tomorrow (NEXT) which supports female leaders who are primed for executive-level advancement.
Our industry, and every other industry, is better when we empower women. That’s why we’re thankful for these trailblazers and their incredible accomplishments.
