Enlarged Halden Programme Review Group meeting – EHPRG 2025

Dr. Ahmad Al Rashdan, DOE, USA

Dr. Ahmad Al Rashdan leads Plant Modernization efforts under the DOE’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program and oversees sensor integration for the DOE’s Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation Program. He is a senior scientist and has been Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator for numerous efforts in advanced nuclear technologies.

Dr. Al Rashdan holds several professional roles, including founding the American Nuclear Society’s Ad-hoc Committee on AI for Nuclear, serving on various committees, and contributing to industry workgroups and international guidance documents. He is a senior member of IEEE and active in the American Nuclear Society.

He holds a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University, an M.Sc. in information technology and automation systems from Esslingen University, and a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology. With over 20 years of experience, he has worked at INL, ABB, Texas A&M, IAEA, Daimler Chrysler-Mercedes Group, and Fraunhofer Institute.

Dr. Al Rashdan has authored or co-authored 100+ technical reports and journal papers and holds nine patent awards and applications. He is an active reviewer for nuclear energy and IEEE journals and DOE grants. His awards include the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), a 2022 R&D 100 award, and several INL awards for innovation.

Richard Screeton, Office for Nuclear Regulation, UK

Richard has worked at the GB nuclear regulator for over 10 years during which time he has worked on the regulatory assessment of new generation III+ and IV gigawatt scale and SMR / ANT reactor designs. He has been a contributory author on several IAEA guides and co-chairs the NEA’s working group on the human and organisational factors of SMRs.

Johan Enkvist, Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM), Sweden

Johan Enkvist is an analyst at the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM). He currently works as a HOF-specialist at the section for Research, department of Regulation and Knowledge. He has been working for the SSM for 17 years, mainly with oversight, regulation, and managing research. Johan is the SSM representative in Halden HTO Management Board.

Brain W. Smith, Director of the Division of Risk Analysis, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES)

Mr. Smith joined the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in in 1996 as a Health Physicist in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS).  In 2002, he was selected as a Technical Assistant in the Office of the Executive Director for Operations.  In 2003 he was selected as a Branch Chief in the NMSS Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental Review (FCSE).  In 2015, he was tasked with leading an expedited rulemaking group on cyber security for fuel cycle facilities.  In 2017 he was selected for the Senior Executive Service (SES) position of Deputy Director, FCSE-NMSS. He later served in the Division of Engineering and Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. He most recently served as the Director of the Division of New and Renewed Licenses, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Mr. Smith has a has a bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Mitshuhiro Takanashi, NRA, Japan

I am a senior researcher at Division of Severe Accident Research Division, Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) – Japan. I have been working in the field of safety assessment of nuclear facilities, especially for reprocessing, for about 20 years and recently became the leader of a research group on probabilistic risk assessment for nuclear reactors. Now I am mainly responsible for Level 1 PRA methods, including HRA.