NERS Advisory Board Member

Section: Research

National Reactor Innovation Center

Director

Biography

Ashley Finan is the director of the National Reactor Innovation Center. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing initiatives to provide resources to reactor innovators to test, demonstrate, and conduct performance assessments to accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear technology concepts.

Dr. Finan most recently served as executive director for the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, where she was responsible for managing the organization’s strategy, operations, policy, and technical development, stakeholder outreach, and fundraising. She provided expert guidance to policymakers, academic teams, industry stakeholders, and NGOs. Dr. Finan also previously served as director of Nuclear Innovation at the Clean Air Task Force.

Dr. Finan earned her PhD in nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her doctoral work focused on energy innovation investment and policy optimization, both in nuclear and renewable energy technologies. She has played a key role in studies of the use of advanced nuclear energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in several applications, including hydrogen production, coal-to-liquids processes, and oil production methods. She has also contributed to analyses of the technoeconomic potential of energy efficiency improvements in the residential and commercial sectors and several related topics.

Dr. Finan also holds a BS in physics as well as a BS and an MS in nuclear science and engineering from MIT.