Rian Bahran, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

Dr. Bahran is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Reactors (NE-5) within the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy and is a career member of the Senior Executive Service. Dr. Bahran holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Nuclear Science & Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, where his doctoral research was funded by the U.S. Naval Reactors in support of the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) Advanced Reactor Program. He also earned a Dual BS in Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics from RPI. He started his post-graduate career at Los Alamos National Laboratory and spent over a decade at the laboratory. Dr. Bahran previously served as a senior advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2019-2021, where he provided strategic guidance on nuclear issues, energy, homeland defense and resilience, among other critical national security matters. For his exemplary performance, he received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. Dr. Bahran most recently served as the Assistant Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for Nuclear Technology & Strategy leading policy development on issues related to nuclear fission and fusion energy, national security, and emerging technology. During his tenure, Dr. Bahran led and coordinated a transformative policy initiative to re-establish U.S. leadership in nuclear energy, which included developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy encompassing deployment of advanced reactors, securing the nuclear fuel supply chain, enhancing energy resilience, and driving global competitiveness. Dr. Bahran has also served as an adjunct faculty member at multiple universities and has authored over 70 technical publications on nuclear data, computational modeling, and integral experiments that support advanced nuclear science applications.