Dennis Spurgeon

Dennis Ray Spurgeon (born October 23, 1943 ) is a former Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy within the United States Department of Energy. He was sworn in on April 3, 2006, becoming the most senior nuclear technology official in the American government. In addition, he is the leader of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, a strategy aimed at accelerating the demonstration of a more proliferation resistant closed fuel cycle and reducing the possibility that nuclear energy could be used for non-peaceful purposes. In his capacity as Assistant Secretary, he has previously served as Acting Under Secretary of Energy for Energy and Environment.

Career and education Prior to becoming Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Dennis Spurgeon was executive vice president and chief operating officer for USEC, Inc., an international supplier of enriched uranium for nuclear plants. Prior to that, he was chairman, chief executive officer, and principal owner of Swiftships, an international company in shipbuilding for commercial and military markets. He had held posts in the Gerald Ford administration, including assistant director for Fuel Cycle in the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration. He was also a member of a White House task force that developed Ford's policy on nuclear energy.

Assistant Secretary Spurgeon has termed the conditions brought about by popular demand for a clean alternative to fossil fuels and global warming a "global renaissance" for the nuclear industry. He has said that Australia and Canada would be given special consideration in the development of the uranium enrichment industry, because they would play a pivotal role in a new nuclear suppliers club that the United States is trying to establish.