Trump nominates Indian-American to head pivotal nuclear energy division
US President Donald Trump has nominated an Indian-American woman to head the nuclear energy division at Department of Energy. If approved by the Senate, Rita Baranwal will be an Assistant Secretary of Energy, responsible for nuclear technology research and the development and management of the department's nuclear technology infrastructure. Baranwal currently serves as the Director of Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative.
Baranwal: MIT grad and PhD holder from University of Michigan
Previously, Baranwal served as Director of Technology Development & Application at Westinghouse and was a manager in Materials Technology at Bechtel Bettis, where she led research and development in nuclear fuel materials for US naval reactors. Baranwal earned her BA in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT and PhD from the University of Michigan. She serves on advisory boards for MIT's Materials Research Laboratory.
Recently, Trump signed law to ensure smooth nuclear innovation
Last week, Trump had signed into law the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act which will speed up the development of advanced reactors in the United States. The law eliminates some of the financial and technological barriers standing in the way of nuclear innovation.
'Unconventional and energetic spirit will again transform our country': Baranwal
In a presentation, Baranwal said that US nuclear industry is equipped to lead the world in deployment of innovative nuclear technologies to supply urgently needed abundant clean energy both domestically and globally. "The unconventional and energetic spirit that created the commercial nuclear energy industry will again transform our country. New, smaller and more efficient reactors are being developed," Baranwal wrote in a blog recently.
