Julie Ezold (MS ’92) and Harsh Desai (BS ‘08 & MS ‘10) assume three-year terms and Tracy Stover (MS ’07 & PhD ’11) assumes a one-year term as board members for the American Nuclear Society.
Ms. Ezold has over 25 years of experience in the nuclear sciences and is currently the Radioisotope Production and Operations Section Head. She is responsible for managing the Bethel Valley Radiochemical Processing, Melton Valley Radiochemical Processing, and the Technical Services, Finishing, and Dispensing Groups that form the section. This section has responsibility for performing and optimizing the production of all radioisotopes that are in a continuing and sustained state of demand and production beyond the research and development phases. This includes major radioisotope production efforts ≥$10M/year in scope as well all other ongoing or campaigned radioisotope production activities at ORNL.
Previously, Ezold was the Californium-252 Program Manager and responsible for the technical aspects as well as the program management activities of each curium target campaign. Typical campaign activities include target fabrication, target approval for insertion into the High Flux Isotope Reactor, chemical processing of irradiated targets, and final source fabrication. Campaign products include, but are not limited to Californium-252, Berkelium-249, Einsteinium-253, and other trans-curium products. These trans-curium products have recently been used in the discovery of a new element, Tennessine (Element 117). In addition to her responsibilities as the Californium Program Manager, Ms. Ezold was responsible for planning and overseeing nuclear material processing R&D work safely and effectively for other nuclear isotopes such as: Nickel-63, Selenium-75, Iridium-192, and Neptunium-237.
Harsh Desai is the Chief Commercialization Officer for Zeno Power and is responsible for supply chain, commercial business development and regulatory engagement. Zeno Power Systems is developing a next-generation radioisotope power system that converts the heat from recycled nuclear waste into electricity. Desai was Senior Manager at Nuclear Energy Institute, where he was responsible for financial modeling, economic impacts, data analytics, and policy development. And he also led efforts for the Nuclear Innovation Week in Washington DC. At the Department of Energy, he was an Advisor to the Technology to Market Director, focused on commercializing clean energy technologies through innovative programs and partnerships between the National Labs and private industry. Other past roles include Staff to the General Manager & Directors of the Naval Nuclear Laboratory (previously known as Knolls and Bettis Atomic Power Labs), Legislative Advisor to a senior U.S. Senator, Senior Nuclear Engineer at Knolls Atomic Power Lab, and Nuclear Engineer at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.
Dr. Tracy Stover is currently a principal engineer for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions LLC, and lead of the criticality safety group for H-Canyon, the nation’s only remaining industrial scale radiochemical separations facility. He has also supported work for the deployment of the Mobile Plutonium Facility, decommission of the Portsmouth enrichment plant, multiple surplus plutonium storage and disposition programs, and validation efforts on SCALE, MCNP, and SEPHIS. Prior to Savannah River, Dr. Stover worked with Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC as a reactor core designer and spent fuel pool engineer. He holds professional engineering licenses in North and South Carolina.
Elected and appointed board members assumed their positions at the end of the ANS Annual Conference held this summer 2021 –