Daniel B. Poneman

Centrus Energy Corp.

President & Chief Executive Officer

Daniel B. Poneman is President and Chief Executive Officer of Centrus Energy Corp. He also serves on the company’s Board of Directors. From 2009 to 2014, Mr. Poneman was the Deputy Secretary of Energy, also serving as the Chief Operating Officer of the US Department of Energy. His responsibilities spanned the range of US energy policies and programs, from hydrocarbons, renewables, nuclear, and efficiency to cybersecurity, project management, national security, emergency response, and international cooperation. Between April 23, 2013, and May 21, 2013, Mr. Poneman served as Acting Secretary of Energy. Prior to assuming his responsibilities as Deputy Secretary, he served as a Principal of the Scowcroft Group for eight years, providing strategic advice to corporations in a variety of strategic industries. In addition, for eight years he practiced law as a Partner at Hogan & Hartson and an Associate at Covington & Burling, advising clients on regulatory and policy matters. In prior tours in government, Mr. Poneman served as a White House Fellow and as Director of Defense Policy and Arms Control for the National Security Council. From 1993 through 1996, he was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Nonproliferation and Export Controls at the National Security Council, where his responsibilities included the development and implementation of US policy in areas such as peaceful nuclear cooperation, missile technology, space-launch activities, sanctions determinations, chemical and biological arms control efforts, and conventional arms transfer policy. He has published widely on national security issues and is the author of Nuclear Power in the Developing World and Argentina: Democracy on Trial. His third book, Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis (co-authored with Joel Wit and Robert Gallucci), received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy. His fourth book, Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change (MIT Press), was released in May 2019. Mr. Poneman is a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds an AB and a JD from Harvard University and an M.Litt. in politics from Oxford University.

Sessions With Daniel B. Poneman

Thursday, 10 March

  • 10:30am - 11:10am (CST) / 10/mar/2022 04:30 pm - 10/mar/2022 05:10 pm

    Nuclear's Role in Achieving Net Zero
    Panel Hydrogen/Clean Tech & Power

    Across the energy value chain, companies and governments are addressing the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Nuclear power generation emits no greenhouse gases and can therefore be an important component in the drive toward reducing emissions and combatting climate change. However, nuclear power generation has encountered stubborn obstacles including delays and cost overruns, disposal of high-level waste, and fear of operating accidents. A combination of new technologies, smaller scale plants, and significant nuclear plant development in certain countries may be tipping the scales toward a nuclear renaissance. What are the promises and risks of nuclear power’s role in achieving net zero

  • 11:15am - 12:00pm (CST) / 10/mar/2022 05:15 pm - 10/mar/2022 06:00 pm

    Book Signing with Dan Poneman: Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change
    Book Signing Geopolitics/Policy/Regulatory Energy Transition/Climate & Sustainability

    Book signing with Dan Poneman for his book Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change.

  • 02:20pm - 03:00pm (CST) / 10/mar/2022 08:20 pm - 10/mar/2022 09:00 pm

    Nuclear & a Low-carbon World
    Panel Carbon Management/Decarbonization

    Momentum is building for nuclear power, as urgency to curb climate change intensifies and many countries commit to decarbonize faster and deeper. Nuclear power scaled up quickly in its early decades. Nuclear power’s share in global power generation grew from 2% in 1970 to 17% in 1990. But nuclear power’s share has since declined to about 10% today. What will it take for nuclear power to step up in a low-carbon world? What are effective policies to preserve the existing fleet and build new plants? Can advanced technologies overcome stubborn obstacles? Which countries and technologies are leading the nuclear revival?

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