Abstract

Global terrorism is certainly one of the most significant national security issues of the past two decades.  At the heart of this threat is the potential for the use of a weapon of mass destruction against the United States or other nations.  Eliminating the threat of the use of nuclear and radiological materials has been a high priority of the United States Government, specifically the National Nuclear Security Administration of the Department of Energy and its Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI).  GTRI to date has significantly reduced the potential for the use of nuclear and radiological weapons by terrorist states and agents by eliminating the inventories of highly enriched uranium and plutonium and their continued utilization.  Mr. Dewes, a Purdue graduate, has been actively working to repatriate fissile materials for 15 years and will discuss the challenges associated with recovery programs around the globe.

Biography

John Dewes is the Director of Global Security for the Savannah River National Laboratory. His organization is responsible for supporting various nonproliferation, counterterrorism, homeland security, and nuclear materials recovery programs around the globe. He received his Bachelor’s of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue in 1982 and a Master’s of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of South Carolina in 2008. Mr. Dewes's previous assignments have included Fermi Nuclear Power Station, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, and the Savannah River Site (SRS). At SRS, he has managed activities in all aspects of the fuel cycle, including Reactors, High-Level Waste, and Environmental. He was detailed to Washington DC in 2004-2006, where he supported the Office of Global Threat Reduction. John is past Chair of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) Fuel Cycle & Waste Management and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Divisions. John also served as the Accredited Representative to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development for ANS. In both 2008 and 2013, he was awarded the Secretary of Energy’s Honor Award for his support of fissile material recoveries around the globe.  In 2014, Hungarian President János Áder awarded Mr. Dewes the Hungarian Golden Cross of Merit by for his efforts to reduce the threat of terrorism by eliminating highly enriched uranium from the country of Hungary.