Dr. Walt Kirchner has more than 50 years of experience in the field of nuclear reactor systems and technologies.  He began his career as a licensed reactor operator/engineering officer sailing on the N.S. Savannah, completed graduate studies in nuclear engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and then was hired as a technical staff member at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.  During his time at Los Alamos, he held group and division leader management positions in applied energy research and development, nuclear reactor design and safety, defense programs, construction project management, and government relations.  He led teams in the development of small modular reactor/micro-reactor designs for special applications, and the conduct of independent reactor safety reviews for the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  He was a consultant to the President’s Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island (Kemeny Commission).  At Los Alamos, and subsequently at Argonne National Laboratory, he advised Laboratory Directors on science and technology policy and programs in the Executive offices, the Department of Energy, other Federal agencies, and Congress.  While at Argonne, he also served as Chief Technologist for the Council on Competitiveness, and focused on advancing high-performance computer-based modeling and simulation for the manufacturing of energy technologies.  Dr. Kirchner’s technical expertise is in the areas of nuclear reactor design, thermal hydraulics, and nuclear safety.

Dr. Kirchner earned a B.S. degree in Marine Engineering from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Nuclear Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.