Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition
Clean Hydrogen = Clean Economy, Clean Jobs, Clean Future
The Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition (NENSC) is an independent organization of leading national security experts dedicated to leveraging U.S. nuclear energy to advance U.S. national security interests.
Comprised of leading experts in national security, NENSC is dedicated to expanding recognition of this interdependence among policymakers at all levels and promoting policies that ensure a robust U.S. nuclear energy enterprise.
Daniel B. Poneman is a distinguished fellow of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center. He is also a distinguished fellow of the Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a member of its advisory council. Poneman is the former president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy Corp., which he led from 2015 to 2023.
Prior to joining Centrus Energy Corp., Poneman served as US deputy secretary of energy and as chief operating officer of the department from 2009 to 2014. Between April 2013 and May 2013, Poneman was the acting secretary of energy.
Before assuming his responsibilities as deputy secretary, Poneman served as a principal of The Scowcroft Group for eight years, and from 1993 through 1996, he served as special assistant to the president and senior director for nonproliferation and export controls at the National Security Council. His responsibilities included the development and implementation of US policy in such areas as peaceful nuclear cooperation, missile technology, space-launch activities, sanctions determinations, chemical and biological arms control efforts, and conventional arms transfer policy.
Poneman first joined the Department of Energy in 1989 as a White House fellow. In 1990, he joined the National Security Council staff as director of defense policy and arms control.
Between tours of government service, Poneman practiced law for nine years in Washington, DC, as an associate at Covington & Burling and as a partner at Hogan & Hartson.
Poneman has published widely on national security issues. He is the author of Nuclear Power in the Developing World, Argentina: Democracy on Trial, and Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change. His third book, Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis (coauthored with Joel Wit and Robert Gallucci), received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy.
After leaving government, Poneman was a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is a distinguished fellow at the Paulson Institute and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Poneman received AB and JD degrees with honors from Harvard University and an MLitt in politics from Oxford University.
Admiral Mies completed a distinguished 35-year career in the US Navy. He commanded US Strategic Command for four years prior to retirement. As Commander in Chief, he was directly responsible for the command and control of the Nation’s strategic nuclear forces supporting the national security objective of strategic deterrence.
Admiral Mies has a unique breadth and depth of operational and policy experience in undersea and strategic warfare. He has held both US and Allied commands at senior military levels. After completing training for submarine duty, he served on two nuclear attack submarines and a ballistic missile submarine before commanding the nuclear attack submarine, USS SEA DEVIL. He subsequently served in a wide range of distinctive command positions including Commander Submarine Development Squadron TWELVE, Commander, Submarine Group EIGHT and Commander, Allied Submarines, Mediterranean, and Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet and Commander, Submarine Allied Command, Atlantic.
Admiral Mies is one of a few flag officers to complete qualification as both a submariner and naval aviation observer. In addition to unit and service awards, his decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal (two awards), Legion of Merit (four awards), National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Navy Commendation Medal (four awards), Navy Achievement Medal, and Secretary of Energy Gold Medal.
Admiral Mies is a native of Chicago, Illinois. A distinguished scholar and athlete, he graduated first in his class with highest honors from the U. S. Naval Academy. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with majors in mechanical engineering and mathematics. An intercollegiate wrestling champion and an all-conference lightweight football player, he was awarded the Thompson Trophy for contributing the most to the promotion of athletics at the Naval Academy. He has completed post-graduate education at Oxford University, England, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Harvard University. He holds a Masters degree in government administration and international relations; he also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Law degree from the University of Nebraska and was honored as a Distinguished Graduate of the Naval Academy. His professional education includes the Flag Officers’ Capstone course, the program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard University, and the Joint Flag Officer Warfighting course.
Following retirement from the Navy, Admiral Mies served as a Senior Vice President and Deputy Group President of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hicks and Associates, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC. He presently serves as the CEO and President of The Mies Group, LTD. Admiral Mies served as the Chairman of the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee from 2004-2010 and Chairman of the Boards of the Navy Mutual Aid Association from 2003-2011 and the Naval Submarine League from 2007-2016. He also served as a member and then Vice Chair of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board from 2015-2020 and as a member of the Board of Governors of Los Alamos National Laboratory from 2004-2018. He previously served on the board of directors of Mutual of Omaha, McDermott International, Babcock and Wilcox, BWX Technologies, Exelon Corporation, the US Naval Academy Foundation, and the US Naval Institute. He presently serves as the Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Group for US Strategic Command, Co-chair of the Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition, Chairman of the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory Advisory Board, Chairman of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory National Security Sciences Directorate Advisory Board, and is a member of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the National Academy of Sciences and the Board of Governors of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Chuck Hagel
Former Secretary of Defense
John Deutch
Former Deputy Secretary of Defense and CIA Director
Susan Eisenhower
International Security and Energy Expert
Lisa Gordon-Hagerty
Former Undersecretary of energy for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration
Dick Meserve
Former Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and President of the Carnegie Institution for Science
Sherri Goodman
Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security
Jeff “Skunk” Baxter
National Security Expert, Grammy winner, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee
The increasing demand for low-carbon electricity makes nuclear an attractive and reliable energy source and will be a crucial component in reaching international climate goals and maintaining global security.
If the United States does not address and overcome challenges facing the industry at home, it will find itself ceding competitiveness abroad, falling behind countries that approach nuclear technology development and deployment more strategically.
This could result in new-to-nuclear countries looking to Russia or China, rather than the United States, to acquire nuclear energy technologies. As the United States grapples with geopolitical challenges posed by growing Russian and Chinese influence, civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and its allies and partners will become even more essential.
The nexus of U.S. national security and U.S. civil nuclear technology leadership has been widely discussed by thought leaders and powerfully underscored by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. NENSC will expand the awareness of nuclear energy’s role in supporting:
Above all, NENSC will promote the policies necessary to advance these imperatives. Nuclear energy is a critical element of global energy security, national security, and climate security. Restoring U.S. global nuclear leadership requires leadership in Washington, DC. NENSC will connect trusted authorities on U.S. national security with policymakers, the media, and others critical to its mission.