Chad Painter

About Chad Painter

During my 36+ year career as a nuclear engineer I not only operated nuclear power reactors but also decommissioned one and successfully have managed a number of development projects focused on building test articles and targets for successful irradiation in the core of nuclear reactors. While at PNNL I had the honor of leading a multidisciplinary team focused on building unique burnable absorber rods that are successfully being irradiated in large quantities in a commercial NRC licensed reactor. As the Project Manager of the JOYO irradiation test project, which sought to develop a space reactor for NASA’s project Prometheus, I led another multi-disciplinary team to design an irradiation test in Japan\'s fast spectrum test reactor. I also led an effort to design, test and license a plutonium sealed source; and provided technical support to NNSA’s Plutonium Disposition Program by managing a contract with a commercial fuel vendor to assess nuclear fuel design codes and methods for designing boiling water reactor fuel containing weapons grade plutonium in the form of mixed uranium and plutonium oxide (MOX) pellets.As the Engineering Mechanics and Structural Materials Technical Group I shared a responsibility with project teams to ensure the safe operation of radiological gloveboxes, fume hoods, and a mechanical testing and microscopy lab. During a 3 year assignment in Vienna, Austria with the IAEA I led the basic principle simulator project which served to educate nuclear newcomer nations on the various types of reactor technologies. In that capacity I was honored to interact with nuclear professionals from over 30 countries, procure an integral small modular reactor simulator, and set the stage for the eventual acquisition of two more basic principle simulators: sodium cooled fast reactor and a high temperature gas cooled thermal reactor. Today I serve as the senior advisor to a U-10Mo fuel fabrication development and process qualification effort focused on replacing HEU research reactor fuel with a new high density LEU fuel form, as well as support several other emerging projects related to advanced fuel fabrication and advanced reactors. Retired Navy Reserve Submarine Captain; qualified Navy EOD Diver and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Experience

1. Senior Technical Advisor

   Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

   Jun 2018 — Present · Richland, WA, US

   Senior Technical Advisor to the US High Performance Research Reactor Fuel Fabrication Pillar; tasked with developing and qualifying a production fuel manufacturing for a new high-performance low enriched monolithic metallic uranium fuel for use in both domestic and perhaps international research reactors. Supporting the Army Reactor Office in developing a new regulatory framework and requirements for possible deployment of new advanced micro reactors to satisfy zero carbon energy resilience needs and multi-megawatt expeditionary power needs.Supporting the development and demonstration of new radioactive isotope heat sources for outer space and undersea environments.

Education

• University of Washington

  Master's Degree, Nuclear Engineering

  1990 — 1992

• California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

  Bachelor's Degree, Physics

  1981 — 1985

Skills

• Energy
• Nuclear Fuels and Materials
• Irradiated Materials Characterization
• Engineering Management
• Power Generation
• Engineering
• Systems Engineering
• International Relations
• Nuclear Engineering
• Project Management
• Reactor
• International Programs
• R&D
• Simulations
• Nuclear
• Fuel Performance
• Management & Leadership
• Program Management
• Reactor Operations
• Proposal Writing
• Power Plants