ORNL appoints Jeremy Busby as associate lab director for Fusion and Fission Energy and Science

Jeremy Busby has been named associate laboratory director for the Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, effective Jan. 1.

He will oversee the directorate’s unique facilities, capabilities and talented scientists and engineers who are tackling such challenges as extending operations of the current U.S. nuclear reactor fleet; investigating economical and flexible advanced reactor systems; and making fusion energy a viable part of the nation’s energy portfolio.

“ORNL has a proud history of addressing compelling challenges in both fusion and fission energy systems, and I’m honored to contribute to our success moving forward,” Busby said. “ORNL’s Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate has the world-leading expertise to advance the development and deployment of both fusion and fission. Combined with the additional strengths across ORNL’s research and support organizations and ORNL’s unique capabilities, we will fortify our nation’s energy transition.”

Busby joined ORNL in 2004 and has served in several leadership roles at the laboratory, most recently as director of the Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Division. His research has focused on materials performance and development of materials for nuclear reactor applications. While at ORNL, he has participated in materials research efforts for space reactors, fusion machines, advanced fast reactors and light water reactors. His diverse research aims to enable the development of operating criteria for structural materials in a variety of adverse environments that will allow for design and operation of safe, reliable and cost-effective nuclear systems.

“Jeremy’s diverse experience and passion for ORNL perfectly suit him to lead an organization central to the lab’s identity, both historically and today,” said ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia.

Busby is a fellow of the American Nuclear Society and has received numerous awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering for research leading to development of high performance cast stainless steels for the ITER fusion reactor, and the Secretary of Energy Achievement Award for his contributions to DOE’s response to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011.

He is adjunct faculty in the department of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences at the University of Michigan and in the department of materials science at Virginia Tech. He received a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from Kansas State University and holds a master’s degree and doctorate in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan.