Keynote Speaker: Dr. Rian Bahran, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Dr. Rian Bahran serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors overseeing a comprehensive portfolio that includes research, development, demonstration, and deployment of advanced nuclear reactors as well as cutting-edge technologies that underpin the technical and economic sustainability of the nation’s current commercial nuclear fleet.
A career member of the Senior Executive Service, Dr. Bahran began his career at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he spent over a decade as an experimentalist and as a program manager. Subsequently, he expanded his service through multiple administrations as a senior advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, providing 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 also served as the assistant director for nuclear technology and strategy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, leading policy development on issues related to nuclear fission and fusion energy, national security, and emerging technology to enhance resilience and bolster global competitiveness.
He holds a doctor of philosophy degree in nuclear science and 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 Advanced Reactor Program. He also earned a dual B.S. in nuclear engineering and engineering physics from RPI.
Matt Kittell, Director, Société Générale
Matt Kittell is a Director with Société Générale’s (SG, or SocGen) sustainable finance team in New York. Carbon management is core to Matt’s activities, and he works with bank clients ranging from corporates, developers, investors, equipment providers, and carbon credit market participants to evaluate and execute opportunities in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and carbon dioxide removals (CDRs). Matt works in partnership with other SG banking teams in the U.S. (New York, Houston, Chicago), Europe (U.K., France), and Asia (Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia) and he has insights from recent large scale CCS projects closed in the U.K. (Net Zero Teesside) and U.S. (Trailblazer). Matt’s work on CCS at SG is informed by his previous role at the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO), where the final five years of his fifteen-year LPO tenure focused on the CCS market.
Hiro Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Advocacy Center, United States Department of Commerce
Mr. Hiro Rodriguez serves as the Executive Director of the Advocacy Center at the United States Department of Commerce.
In this capacity, he leads a government-wide initiative to support American companies competing for foreign government procurement opportunities. Mr. Rodriguez works closely with U.S. embassies, interagency partners, and international counterparts to strengthen commercial diplomacy, enhance bilateral and multilateral trade relationships, and promote high-impact economic growth through strategic U.S. exports.
He brings significant private sector experience, having helped build some of Silicon Valley’s most well-known technology companies over the course of his career. Most notably, he served as Chief of Staff to the Chairman and CEO of DocuSign, where he played a key leadership role in the company’s transformation from an early-stage startup to a global, publicly traded category leader. During his tenure, he helped drive DocuSign’s international expansion, forge strategic partnerships, and support its successful IPO—contributing to its growth into a $40 billion publicly traded company used by hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
He also held roles at Salesforce and later became Chief Revenue Officer at Prefect Technologies, where he built and scaled the go-to-market organization from the ground up and helped grow the company from pre-revenue to a multi-million-dollar enterprise.
In addition to his work in the private sector, Mr. Rodriguez served as the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment at the U.S. Department of State.
Before his current appointment, he was Chief Business Officer at the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University, where he led global engagement efforts to advance trusted technology partnerships and critical technologies.
Mr. Rodriguez holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of San Diego. He resides in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and three children.
Frédéric G. Sourgens, AIEN Nuclear Taskforce - Lead
Frédéric G. Sourgens is the James McCulloch Chair in Energy Law at Tulane Law School and Director of the Tulane Center for Energy Law.
He joined the Tulane Law Faculty in 2023. Prior to teaching at Tulane, Sourgens served as the Senator Robert J. Dole Distinguished Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law.
Sourgens is the co-lead investigator with OPEC’s General Legal Counsel, Leonardo Sempértegui of the energy transition policy and regulatory briefs project for the Organization of Petroleum Producing States (OPEC). He is the Chair of the Southwest Institute for International and Comparative Law and a member of the Executive Committee and chair of the Academic Outreach Committee for the Institute for Energy Law.
Sourgens is active in the governance of the American Society of International Law, where he currently serves a three-year term on its executive council. He holds multiple editorial appointments including Editor-in-Chief of Oxford University Press' Investment Claims reporter of international arbitral awards between states and foreign investors and serving on the editorial boards of the Brill Research Perspectives in International Investment Law and Arbitration as well as the American Review of International Arbitration (Columbia University School of Law).
Before entering academia, Sourgens practiced law at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP in Houston (now Norton Rose Fulbright) and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP in Washington DC (now Milbank).
Katie Strangis, Vice President - Government & International Affairs, Westinghouse
Katie Strangis joined Westinghouse as the Vice President of Government & International Affairs in April 2024. Katie brings to this role nearly two decades of strategy, engagement, leadership, and legal experience with the Department of Energy, with particular focus on civil nuclear cooperation and export controls. Most recently, she served as the Deputy Director for Nonproliferation Policy for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Previously, Katie served as Program Director for Nuclear Technology Export Control Regulations and also in the office of the General Counsel for DOE and NNSA. Katie holds an undergraduate degree in History and English from The University of Rochester and a law degree from Syracuse University College of Law.
Elina Teplinsky, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Elina Teplinsky, Pillsbury’s Global Energy Industry Leader and a leading member of the firm’s International Nuclear Projects and Hydrogen teams, focuses on international nuclear energy matters, including advice to U.S. and global clients on transactional and regulatory issues.
Elina is a trusted advisor to nuclear owner-operators, reactor and equipment suppliers, investors, architect-engineering companies and technical consulting firms on complex nuclear transactional and regulatory matters. She frequently serves as lead outside counsel on new build projects, equipment and fuel procurements, M&A transactions and joint ventures in the nuclear sector. She has worked on transactions for more than 30 countries in North and South America, Europe, Turkey and the Middle East, Russia and the former CIS, Asia and Africa.
Elina advises clients on all aspects of the transactions, including: project strategy, structuring and risk allocation; drafting and negotiation of EPC, equipment and fuel supply agreements; mitigation of nuclear liability risk; adherence to multilateral and bilateral treaty requirements; and addressing nuclear trade and investments restrictions. She has advised several governments and government-owned organizations on the drafting and implementation of nuclear legislation and regulations. Elina has also advised organizations on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) responsibilities associated with the energy sector.
Elina has vast experience in nuclear export control matters and is currently advising dozens of U.S. and global companies on all aspects of compliance with U.S. DOE regulations at 10 CFR Part 810, U.S. NRC regulations at 10 CFR Part 110 and the Department of Commerce Export Administration Regulations, including structuring and implementation of export compliance programs and addressing potential violations and securing licenses and advisory opinions.
Elina also advises a number of small modular reactor and advance reactor companies on commercialization of their designs, including securing investment and entry into strategic partnerships.
Elina is a co-chair of the World Nuclear Association’s Law Working Group and is a frequent lecturer at the World Nuclear University. She has been recognized as an expert nuclear advisor by the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC) and Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). Elina is also a consultant to the Clean Air Task Force, a leading NGO focused on deep decarbonization, on nuclear energy strategy and global nuclear deployment. In addition, she serves as a member of the MIT-based Advanced Nuclear & Production Experts Group (ANPEG), a global consortium dedicated to developing low-carbon energy systems based on a “plug-and-play” nuclear micro reactor.
Victor Ibarra, Senior Manager - Nuclear Energy, Clean Air Task Force
Victor Ibarra, Jr is a proud Mexican American from Dallas, Texas, and joined Clean Air Task Force as a Senior Manager for the Advanced Nuclear Energy Program in March 2025. Prior to joining CATF, Victor was a civil servant working as an Energy Industry Analyst in the Office of Energy Market Regulation at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. His extensive career also includes roles at NASA, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, the UT-Health Science Center, and the Nuclear Innovation Alliance.
Victor holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University and earned his M.S. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. Outside of his professional pursuits, Victor enjoys exploring his cultural heritage through cooking and as a dancer. He is deeply committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the energy sector, actively participating in initiatives through the American Nuclear Society and serving as a Board Member for the Good Energy Collective.
Vincent Zabielski, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Vincent Zabielski is recognised as one of the Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom for Energy and Natural Resources Law. His practice focuses on international nuclear energy matters, including providing strategic advice related to new-build EPC contracts, power purchase agreements, operation and maintenance, fuel supply chain, liability issues, international treaties, mergers and acquisition, dispute resolution and export controls. Prior to joining Pillsbury, Vincent was senior nuclear counsel for the UAE nuclear new-build program, where he was responsible for integration of nuclear licensing strategy with the largest-ever public financing of a public works project. Vincent also served as associate general counsel-nuclear at Public Service Enterprise Group in New Jersey, advising the operators and owners of the Salem/Hope Creek Generating Stations regarding all aspects of nuclear operations. In this role, Vincent was responsible for all commercial contracts and routinely served as the legal interface with regulators.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Vincent was an engineering manager at a large nuclear facility in the United States. He has particular experience in crafting integrated solutions for new-build projects that leverage his legal, business and engineering experience to deliver maximum value for the client.