Lab Leadership

INL Mission

Our mission is to discover, demonstrate and secure innovative nuclear energy solutions, other clean energy options and critical infrastructure.

INL Vision

Our vision is to change the world’s energy future and secure our nation’s critical infrastructure.

INL Values

Excellence, Inclusivity, Integrity, Ownership, Teamwork, Safety.

Senior Leadership Team

Dr. John Wagner

Laboratory Director

Dr. Marianne Walck

Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology and Chief Research Officer

Mr. Juan Alvarez

Deputy Laboratory Director for Management and Operations and Chief Operating Officer

Dr. Jess C. Gehin

Associate Lab Director – Nuclear Science & Technology

Mr. Zachary (Zach) Tudor

Associate Lab Director – National & Homeland Security S&T

Dr. Todd Combs

Associate Lab Director – Energy & Environment S&T

Dr. Sean O’Kelly

Associate Lab Director – Advanced Test Reactor

Mr. Ron Crone

Associate Lab Director – Materials and Fuels Complex

Ms. Iris Anderson

Chief Financial Officer and Director – Business Management

Ms. Kimberly Evans Ross

General Counsel

Mr. Mark Holtermann

Chief Information Officer and Director - Information Management

Mr. Mark Holubar

Director – Human Resources & Diversity

Mr. Randall Hughes

Director – Safeguards and Security

Ms. Jhansi Kandasamy

Director – Net-Zero Program

Mr. Carlo Melbihess

Director – Facilities & Site Services

Mr. Eric Papaioannou

Director – Environment, Safety, Health & Quality

Mr. John Revier

Director – External Engagement and Communications

Battelle Energy Alliance Team Members

 

University Partners: MIT, The Ohio State University, North Carolina State University, University of New Mexico, and Oregon State University, University of Idaho, Idaho State University, and Boise State University.

INL is managed by Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. BEA is a limited liability company wholly owned by Battelle.

Contact Information

Sarah Neumann

Phone: (208) 526-0490

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Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy

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Idaho National Laboratory

Dr. John Wagner

Laboratory Director

Dr. John C. Wagner is the director of Idaho National Laboratory and president of Battelle Energy Alliance LLC. He is responsible for management and integration of a large, multipurpose laboratory that has a mission focused on nuclear energy, national and homeland security, and energy and environment science and technology. He manages this U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory of approximately 6,000 scientists, engineers and support staff members in multiple nuclear and nonnuclear experimental facilities, with an annual budget of more than $2 billion.

Wagner began serving as INL director in 2020. He has more than 25 years of experience performing research, and managing and leading research and development projects, programs and organizations.

Wagner’s experience is strongly aligned with INL’s programmatic portfolio. He has guided and helped implement INL’s nuclear energy strategy during an innovative and exciting time at the nation’s center for nuclear energy research and development. As a recognized expert in reactor and fuel cycle technologies, he is called upon frequently to advise in formulation of policies for nuclear fuel cycles and advanced reactors.

Wagner initially joined INL as chief scientist at the Materials and Fuels Complex in 2016 and served as associate laboratory director for Nuclear Science and Technology beginning in 2017. Prior to joining INL, he worked for nearly 17 years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he held several research and leadership roles in reactor and fuel cycle technologies.

Wagner is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and recipient of the 2013 E.O. Lawrence Award. He has authored or co-authored more than 170 refereed journal and conference articles, technical reports, and conference summaries. He earned a bachelor’s in nuclear engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 1992, and master’s and doctorate degrees from the Pennsylvania State University in 1994 and 1997, respectively.

Read his extended bio here.

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Dr. Marianne Walck

Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology and Chief Research Officer

Dr. Marianne Walck provides strategic leadership, direction and integration for research, science and technology at Idaho National Laboratory in her roles as deputy laboratory director for Science and Technology and chief research officer. She leads INL’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, directs the lab’s interactions with the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and oversees INL’s strategic interactions with universities. Walck joined INL in 2019. She has more than 30 years of DOE national laboratory leadership experience, including technical program leadership, research leadership, and line, personnel and site management. Her prior experience includes 33 years at Sandia National Laboratories, concluding as vice president for SNL’s California laboratory and its Energy and Climate Program. Walck serves on the advisory board for the U.S. Women in Nuclear Executive Advisory Council. Walck was named one of the Top 100 Women in Energy by the National Diversity Council in 2021. She also serves on the Idaho Higher Education Research Council and various national laboratory technical advisory boards, is a Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Initiative ambassador, and is a past chair of the National Laboratory Chief Research Officers. She earned doctorate and master’s degrees in geophysics from California Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in geology/physics from Hope College. She is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the Seismological Society of America, the Association for Women Geoscientists, Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission Council (gubernatorial appointment), the American Nuclear Society, Women in Nuclear, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Read her extended bio here.

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Mr. Juan Alvarez

Deputy Laboratory Director for Management and Operations and Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Juan Alvarez has over 35 years of experience in management and operations with the U.S. Navy and as a contractor with the Department of Energy. In his role at INL, he has overall leadership responsibility for effective implementation of major functional management and business transformation efforts. He also serves as Executive Vice President of Battelle Energy Alliance LLC, managing contractor of INL. He is a board member for University of Tennessee-Battelle LLC, Blue Cross of Idaho, Idaho Regional Optical Network, and Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs. He also chairs the Battelle Operations Council. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Miami and a master’s degree in industrial technology from the University of Idaho.

Read his extended bio here.

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Dr. Jess C. Gehin

Associate Lab Director – Nuclear Science & Technology

Dr. Jess Gehin became associate laboratory director for INL’s Nuclear Science & Technology (NS&T) Directorate in March 2021 after serving as chief scientist for the directorate since 2018. Over his 28-year career, he has built national strategies and priorities for nuclear energy, led complex projects and organizations, and developed strong relationships with senior leaders within INL, DOE and federal sponsors, and other laboratories, companies and universities. In support of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, he served as the national technical director for the DOE Microreactor Program. He expanded NS&T’s strategic direction and helped develop and establish key projects to build advanced reactors at INL such as the Department of Defense’s demonstration microreactor Project Pele, and the Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) Project. Previously, he held research and leadership positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in nuclear reactor core physics, reactor core and system technologies, reactor modeling and simulation, and fuel cycle reactor applications. While at ORNL, he served as director of the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors. He earned a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from Kansas State University, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His was an associate professor at the University of Tennessee, is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, and has authored or co-authored more than 120 refereed journal and conference articles, technical reports and conference summaries.

Read his extended bio here.

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Mr. Zachary (Zach) Tudor

Associate Lab Director – National & Homeland Security S&T

Prior to joining INL in June 2016, Mr. Zach Tudor was program director in the Computer Science Laboratory at SRI International, where he served as a management and technical resource for operational and research and development cybersecurity programs for government, intelligence, and commercial projects supporting DHS’s Cyber Security Division on multiple projects. Mr. Tudor serves as a member of (ISC)2’s Application Security Advisory Board and the Nuclear Cyber Security Working Group, and he also serves as the vice chair of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection at George Washington University. Prior to SRI, he led a team of cybersecurity engineers and analysts directly supporting the Control Systems Security Program at DHS, whose mission is to reduce the cybersecurity risk to critical infrastructure systems. A retired U.S. Navy Submarine Electronics Limited Duty Officer and Chief Data Systems Technician, Tudor holds an M.S. in Information Systems from George Mason University concentrating in cybersecurity, where he was also an adjunct professor teaching graduate courses in information security.

Read his extended bio here.

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Dr. Todd Combs

Associate Lab Director – Energy & Environment S&T

Dr. Todd Combs became associate laboratory director for Energy and Environment Science & Technology (EES&T) in May 2017. His research has included energy systems modeling and analysis for DOE, most recently related to critical materials supply chains; as well as the application of modeling and simulation to national and homeland security issues for DHS and the Department of Defense. Formerly the director of the Global Security Sciences Division at Argonne National Laboratory, he led a multidisciplinary research team of over 200 that found solutions to protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from a wide spectrum of national and global security threats. He served 14 months as Argonne’s interim associate laboratory director for Energy and Global Security. Earlier, he managed Argonne’s advanced grid modeling program for DOE, and Argonne’s relationship with the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, he was an operations research scientist and served as group leader of the Transportation Planning and Decision Science group. He earned a doctorate in operations research and master’s degree in operations analysis from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Read his extended bio here.

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Dr. Sean O’Kelly

Associate Lab Director – Advanced Test Reactor

Dr. Sean O’Kelly has more than 40 years of nuclear reactor experience. He served as deputy director at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Center for Neutron Research. He also served as chief of Reactor Operations and Engineering at NIST and was responsible for the direction and management of reactor operations, maintenance and engineering for the NIST 20 MW test reactor. He has worked as a nuclear engineer at NIST and as a manager and reactor operator at Texas A&M University and The University of Texas at Austin research reactors. He served in the U.S. Navy in Idaho as a prototype instructor and reactor operator and on the USS Benjamin Franklin as a reactor operator. He holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, and a master’s degree in industrial engineering and bachelor’s degree in physics from Texas A&M University. He also serves as chairman of the IAEA Technical Working Group on Research Reactors.

Read his extended bio here.

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Mr. Ron Crone

Associate Lab Director – Materials and Fuels Complex

Mr. Ron Crone has more than 25 years of experience in engineering, management and technical leadership. He served as interim associate lab director for the Neutron Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He was responsible for the management of the neutron sciences R&D portfolio, which includes the operation of the Spallation Neutron Source and the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). He began his career in the Reactor Engineering Group at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station near Toledo, Ohio. He then worked at the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station in Rowe, Massachusetts, as a reactor engineer and shift technical adviser. He moved to Tennessee and joined the staff of the HFIR in the Research Reactors Division (RRD) in January 1992. He holds a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Alabama at Huntsville.

Read his extended bio here.

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Ms. Iris Anderson

Chief Financial Officer and Director – Business Management

Ms. Iris Anderson is the chief financial officer at Idaho National Laboratory with 29 years of experience in finance and accounting. As the CFO and director of Business Management at INL, she is responsible for the development and implementation of the laboratory’s financial strategy and planning. The CFO facilitates the linkage of the laboratory’s strategic objectives with institutional financial strategies and measurable goals. Before joining INL, Ms. Anderson served as the controller and manager of Financial Operations and had managed the Business Development & Analysis group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). She served on PNNL’s Research Operations Council (ROC), as a member of the Brookhaven Laboratory Business & Audit Committee, and on the Battelle Pension Management Investment Committee. Previously, she held financial positions for US West NewVector Group and US Bank. The Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce honored her with the ATHENA International Award, which honors women for professional excellence, community service, leadership skills, and actively assisting other women in attaining professional excellence. She holds a B.A. in finance from the University of Washington.

Read her extended bio here.

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Ms. Kimberly Evans Ross

General Counsel

Kimberly Evans Ross provides legal advice and support for INL’s research, business and operational activities as general counsel. She has worked in INL’s Office of General Counsel since 2014 and took lead as general counsel in 2021. In her role, she helps the laboratory achieve business objectives while cost-effectively managing legal risks and expenses. Prior to joining INL, Evans Ross represented INL as lead outside counsel for several years as a partner at Moffatt Thomas Barrett Rock and Fields in Idaho Falls. She has also been an associate attorney at Tarlow & Stonecipher and has clerked for Chief Justice Jean Turnage of the Montana Supreme Court, as well as Chief Judge William Stocks at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. She received a bachelor’s degree in English with distinguished honors from Boise State University, and a Juris Doctor with honors from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Mr. Mark Holtermann

Chief Information Officer and Director - Information Management

Mr. Mark Holtermann comes to Idaho National Laboratory with over 30 years of experience in information technology (IT), including the past 17 years within the energy and utilities industry. In his role at INL, he helps provide critical support to INL’s research mission. INL relies on the Information Management directorate for the tools, systems and capabilities that enable the Lab’s daily tasks, as well as facilitating and protecting the vast amounts of data and information that flow daily across INL’s digital networks. In his career, Mark has delivered business-driven, customer-focused digital solutions, most recently as vice president for information technology and digitization at NAES Corporation. NAES is the power generation industry’s largest independent services provider, and the company operates and maintains more than 200 power generation facilities, spanning more than 96 gigawatts including 5 gigawatts of renewables. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Memphis and a master’s degree in international business administration from Nova Southeastern University.

Read his extended bio here.

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Mr. Mark Holubar

Director – Human Resources & Diversity

With over 25 years of experience in human resources leadership positions in various corporations — from small privately held organizations to several Fortune 500 corporations — Mr. Mark Holubar brings a strong background in HR and diversity to the INL team. His background of success involves all areas of human resources with an emphasis on leadership assessment and development, organizational assessment, talent assessment and recruiting, employee engagement, employee relations and strategic planning. Early in his career, Mr. Holubar also held leadership positions in operations management. In his position as the director of Human Resources and Diversity, he will lead the HR function through the transformation of Idaho National Laboratory to its vision to be the world’s pre-eminent nuclear energy laboratory. Mr. Holubar holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh.

Read his extended bio here.

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Mr. Randall Hughes

Director – Safeguards and Security

Mr. Randall Hughes is director of INL’s Safeguards and Security Directorate. He has over three decades of experience in the security realm and leads a team of more than 500 people while overseeing an annual budget in excess of $140 million. Safeguards and Security is responsible for programs that protect INL facilities, people, government property, and associated security interests, including special nuclear material, spent nuclear fuel, radioactive waste, classified and unclassified materials, security training, emergency communications, and the protective force. Mr. Hughes was the Senior Counterintelligence Officer at INL from 2010 to 2018. Before joining INL, he served as a special agent in the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), where he gained extensive experience in matters related to security, law enforcement, counterintelligence and counterterrorism. He retired from NCIS after 21 years of distinguished service in numerous worldwide locations, including duty stations in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions. While in federal service, he served in field and senior management positions.

Read his extended bio here.

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Ms. Jhansi Kandasamy

Director – Net-Zero Program

Ms. Jhansi Kandasamy is the director of INL’s Net-Zero program. She is responsible for leading INL to become a national model for achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2031 through the development and implementation of carbon-free and carbon-capture technologies. Kandasamy began serving in her role at INL in October 2021. She brings 30 years of industry experience and leadership as the former executive vice president of engineering for GE-Hitachi. She began her career at the Limerick Generating station as an electrical engineer for the Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) and held progressive roles as maintenance supervisor, operations supervisor, engineering manager, regulatory assurance manager and chemistry environmental manager at Exelon’s Limerick Generating Station and Oyster Creek Generating Station. She then transitioned to Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) Nuclear Salem/Hope Creek New Jersey where she held positions as regulatory assurance manager, work management director and senior projects director.

Kandasamy obtained U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission senior reactor operator certification at the Limerick Generating Station. In addition, Kandasamy is past chair of U.S. Women in Nuclear (WIN), an organization with more than 8,000 members, and co-founder of U.S. WIN Nuclear Executives of Tomorrow, where she mentors women who are one to three years from being executives in the nuclear industry. She is also an American Nuclear Society executive committee chair member and co-founder of Atomic Allies. Kandasamy received her Master of Business Administration from Eastern University and her bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Read her extended bio here.

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Mr. Carlo Melbihess

Director – Facilities & Site Services

Mr. Melbihess leads an organization of some 600 staff providing a wide range of facility and support services across the INL. These services include facility management, site-wide utility operations, logistics, property management, infrastructure planning, engineering and construction services, fleet management and logistics, precision machining, calibration services, landfill operations, and food services. He is a career Battelle employee. He has over 22 years of experience managing a wide variety of laboratory support functions such as facilities management, operations and maintenance, fabrication, roads and grounds services, facility design, construction, renovation and demolition project management, and, laboratory protection and security services.

Read his extended bio here.

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Mr. Eric Papaioannou

Director – Environment, Safety, Health & Quality

With more than 34 years of experience, Mr. Eric Papaioannou leads INL’s Environment, Safety, Health & Quality Directorate. Previously, he led INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) Operations, Maintenance, Infrastructure and Fabrication Division where he was responsible for operations in all of MFC’s nuclear and radiological facilities. He began his career in the United States Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, joined Argonne National Laboratory-West in 1998 as an operator in the Fuel Conditioning Facility, spent seven years as a criticality safety engineer, and then moved into progressing roles in nuclear operations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics with an emphasis in health physics from Idaho State University.

Read his extended bio here.

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Mr. John Revier

Director – External Engagement and Communications

Mr. John Revier is the director of INL’s External Engagement and Communications directorate. In this role, he helps make INL an innovation leader and strong partner to governments, academia and industry across the region and beyond. His focus on the externally facing elements and activities at the laboratory helps INL speak with a single voice to external audiences. Prior to this role, he served for seven years as the director of State and Regional Government Affairs for INL, where he was the primary interface for the laboratory with the state of Idaho, local governments and other stakeholders within the region. Before joining INL, Revier served for over 14 years as Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson’s legislative director and deputy chief of staff. Prior to that, he worked for Minnesota Sen. Rod Grams in both his state and Washington, D.C., offices. Revier is a native Minnesotan and graduate of Mankato State University.

Read his extended bio here.

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