Mission, Vision and 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

INL Senior Leadership Team Organizational Chart​

Organizations and Directorates

The Advanced Test Reactor is the world’s premier nuclear test reactor. It provides unmatched, national priority nuclear fuel and materials testing capabilities for military, federal, university and industry partners and customers.

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This directorate is comprised of professionals in finance, contracts, project management and business systems who provide efficient and effective operations and business services that exceed customer expectations as well as an assurance system that safeguards the lab’s operational integrity. Business Management’s six divisions work as a team to enable the lab’s nationally important mission as the Department of Energy’s premier nuclear lab within a complex of 17 national labs. We are part of a community of labs that offers numerous opportunities for networking, training, mentorship and career development.

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The Counterintelligence Program protects classified and sensitive programs and information, personnel and assets from foreign intelligence collection and international terrorist activities; and to detect and deter trusted insiders who would engage in activities on behalf of a foreign intelligence service or foreign terrorist entity.​​

EES&T innovates in transportation systems, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and environmental sustainability. Each day, the directorate performs science-based research to produce solutions with worldwide impact.

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ESH&Q provides mission support for all aspects of INL’s key mission areas. The directorate is vital to accomplishing the lab’s mission by supporting day-to-day operations, program compliance and other support staff members.

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This directorate focuses on outreach and partnerships with regional organizations. The group includes Commercial Partnerships and Technology Transitions, Community and Regional Engagement, Governmental Affairs (state and federal), and Communications. This directorate was created as part of the Next-Level INL initiative and helps maximize mission outcomes and position INL for future success.

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This group provides a wide range of facility and support services across the laboratory. These services include facility management, sitewide utility operations, logistics, property management, infrastructure planning, engineering and construction services, fleet management and logistics, precision machining, calibration services, landfill operations, and food services.

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This office is comprised of the laboratory’s risk management functions, including Contractor Assurance, Conflicts of Interest, Supply Chain Risk Management, Export Control, Privacy, and Corporate Investigations.A600_Org_Charts

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This organization is vital to the lab’s operation and instrumental to meeting its energy and national security missions. This people-first organization provides the standards, processes, tools, coaching and decision support systems to attract, engage, develop and reward talent that ensures our laboratory performs at the highest level. It is also instrumental in building an inclusive culture that adheres to our laboratory’s values.

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This directorate deploys and maintains business applications, services, and infrastructure (servers, networks, storage), and monitors, optimizes, and troubleshoots systems performance while overseeing security and governance. Additionally, IT provides technology innovation, oversight, advisory and strategy for the lab.

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MFC is a prime testing center for advanced technologies associated with nuclear power systems. This complex is the nexus of research on new reactor fuels and related materials. As such, it contributes significantly to the development of increasingly efficient reactor fuels and the important work of nonproliferation.

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In 2021, INL committed to becoming a national model for achieving net-zero emissions by 2031. The laboratory will do this by developing and implementing carbon-free and carbon-capture technologies on the forefront of the move to zero-carbon emissions.

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This directorate protects the nation’s critical infrastructures and prevents the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Within both areas, INL leverages its scientific expertise, engineering discipline and unique infrastructure to develop military, homeland security, energy and industry solutions.

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INL leads the nation’s research in advanced nuclear energy technology. Scientists and engineers in this directorate study reactors that can replace fossil fuels with carbon-free energy, materials that lower carbon emissions for every energy source, and applications that help us explore worlds.

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This directorate is responsible for programs that protect, control and account for INL security- and emergency-related interests. The functions include unarmed and armed protective forces; protective force training; live fire range operations; explosive breaching operations; physical security; personnel security; foreign visits and assignments; classification and declassification; classified matter protection and control; nuclear material control and accountability; operations security; security incidents and infractions; security investigations; performance testing; security education; human reliability program; vulnerability assessment analysis; design basis threat implementation; the Site Safeguards and Security Plan; emergency planning functions; emergency response; and communication functions.​

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Not finding what you are looking for? Please send your question to info@inl.gov.

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

Contact INL

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.

Erin Searcy

Dr. Erin Searcy

Acting Deputy Laboratory Director and Chief Research Officer

Dr. Erin Searcy is the acting deputy laboratory director for Science and Technology and chief research officer at Idaho National Laboratory. Prior to this role, she served as the chief technology officer for the laboratory’s Nuclear Science and Technology directorate. In this role, Erin led a variety of strategic and technology deployment activities and engagements across the lab, with the Department of Energy, industry and universities. Prior to this role, she was the director of strategic planning and transformation for the Nuclear Science and Technology directorate. From 2018-21, Erin was the director of Institutional Planning and Programs, where she led INL’s $37 million Lab Directed Research and Development program, led the compilation of INL’s Lab Plan and agenda, and oversaw research excellence activities. Prior to that role, Erin was the Bioenergy Technologies Department manager, where she led a team of more than 30 researchers and scientists to address barriers to the efficient supply of quality, sustainable biomass feedstocks. She spent almost three years supporting the Bioenergy Technologies Office at Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, D.C., as a technical advisor employed by INL. Prior to joining the laboratory, she acted as a sessional instructor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta and was a consultant. She holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in engineering.

Read his extended bio here.

Juan Alvarez

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.

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.

Portrait: Zachary Tudor

Mr. Zachary (Zach) Tudor

Associate Lab Director – National & Homeland Security S&T

Zachary (Zach) Tudor is the associate laboratory director of Idaho National Laboratory’s National and Homeland Security Science and Technology directorate, a major U.S. center for national security technology development and demonstration, employing over 800 scientists and engineers across more than $550 million in nuclear nonproliferation, critical infrastructure protection, and defense systems programs for the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the intelligence community. A retired U.S. Navy submarine electronics officer, he is the former chair of the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium’s board of directors, a member of Virginia’s Commonwealth Cyber Initiative advisory board and the former vice chair of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection at George Washington University.

Read his extended bio here.

Todd Combs

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.

O'Kelly

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.

Crone

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.

Iris Anderson

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.

Kimberly Ross

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.

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.

Heidi Dillard

Ms. Heidi Dillard

Chief Human Resources and Diversity Officer

Heidi Dillard is chief human resources and diversity officer at Idaho National Laboratory. In this role, she leads an organization focused on providing the standards, processes, tools, coaching, and decision support systems to attract, engage, develop, and reward diverse and inclusive talent. Heidi has over two decades of experience in human resources, business operations and people management. Prior to joining INL in 2024, she served as the chief people officer for Federated Wireless in Arlington, Virginia, where she partnered with the CEO on all human capital functions. She was instrumental in building a company culture focused on professionalism, collaboration and outcomes. She has also worked as the chief human resources officer for Phlow Corporation, a public-benefit pharmaceutical manufacturing company, and earlier as the chief human resources officer for OneWeb Limited, a satellite telecommunications company focused on low earth orbit satellite connectivity. Heidi is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in the U.S. Army for over six years, leading teams ranging from 30 to 1,200 soldiers. She received her master’s degree in human resources management from Cornell University and completed the Executive and Leadership Coaching Certification Program at Columbia University in New York.

Read his extended bio here.

Randall Hughes

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.

Jhansi Kandasamy

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.

Mr. Carlo Melbihess

Director – Facilities & Site Services

Mr. Carlo Melbihess is the director of Facilities and Site Services at Idaho National Laboratory with 29 years of experience in facilities and operations. He leads INL’s largest support organization, which is responsible for lab’s non-nuclear facilities, supporting infrastructure, emergency response and essential support services that enable INL’s mission and other site contractors. Prior to joining INL, Melbihess worked in the Facilities and Operations directorates at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Most recently, he was the deputy assistant laboratory director for Facilities and Operations at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He also served overseas as the operations director for Battelle Science & Technology Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. He holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering from the University of Washington. He served on the College of Eastern Idaho Foundation Board of Directors for nine years, and currently serves on the Idaho Career and Technical Education Foundation Board of Directors. He takes a personal interest in math, science and technical educational programs.

Read his extended bio here.

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.

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.