USEC Names Steven Penrod Vice President of American Centrifuge
USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) today named Steven R. Penrod, 57, vice president of the American Centrifuge program (ACP), succeeding Paul E. Sullivan, 62, who leaves the post to become director of the Applied Research Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University, effective September 1.
Penrod currently serves as USEC vice president of enrichment operations and has been responsible for USEC’s facilities in Paducah, Ky. and Piketon, Ohio, which includes for the past three years the centrifuge demonstration cascade operation in Piketon. During this period Penrod and Sullivan have worked together to successfully demonstrate the state-of-the-art American Centrifuge uranium enrichment technology.
“Paul is a consummate professional engineer, effectively managing complex projects and programs, as evidenced by his leadership of the centrifuge program and his accomplished record as a vice admiral and commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command,” said Robert Van Namen, chief operating officer of USEC.
“Paul navigated the centrifuge program through scope changes and funding uncertainties and successfully led the research, development and demonstration program that confirmed the readiness of the American Centrifuge uranium enrichment technology to serve national security needs and future commercial markets. We thank him for his leadership and wish him well as he begins a new phase of his career,” he said.
Steven Penrod began his career in 1979 at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant as a systems engineer. He took on increasing levels of responsibility and was named general manager of the Paducah facility in 2001. In 2011, Penrod assumed responsibility for enrichment operations at both the Paducah facility and the American Centrifuge facility in Piketon. Over the last year and in conjunction with his ACP responsibilities, Penrod has managed the safe and orderly wind down of USEC operations in Paducah, including coordination with the Department of Energy on steps leading to an anticipated de-lease and return of the facilities to the DOE on October 1, 2014.
“USEC has developed a strong cadre of senior managers and in Steve we have a proven senior executive who achieved outstanding safety, efficiency and productivity levels at the Paducah plant as well as strengthening enrichment operations at ACP. Steve brought operational expertise from years of enrichment experience at Paducah to help improve procedures at ACP as it transitioned from research and demonstration to cascade operations. He has been closely involved in all aspects of the American Centrifuge program and provides leadership continuity as we take the program forward to the next phase,” Van Namen said.
USEC Inc., a global energy company, is a leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.
Contact
USEC Inc.
Paul Jacobson, 301-564-3399
