Bio
Gale Hauck is a commercial nuclear industry expert with more than 20 years of experience spanning new construction, operations, and decommissioning. She serves as Senior R&D Staff for Innovative Nuclear Reactors at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and as the DOE Microreactor Program Technical Area Lead for System Integration & Analyses, supporting the development and deployment of next-generation microreactor technologies.
Her work focuses on advanced reactor technology and deployment, energy security, and siting prioritization, with emphasis on engagement and cooperative R&D programs that strengthen ORNL’s collaborations in advanced nuclear systems.
Hauck previously served as Senior Technical Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, D.C. Before joining ORNL, she spent 14 years at Westinghouse Electric Company, most notably as Deputy Site Manager for the Barakah four-unit APR1400 construction project in the United Arab Emirates, and also held roles in quality assurance, product development, and engineering project management for operating plant core reloads. Earlier in her career, she worked for Entergy as a reactor engineer at Indian Point and for Fluor at the Hanford Site.
Hauck holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, both an M.E. in Nuclear Engineering and an M.B.A. from Penn State, and a Ph.D. in Energy Science and Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.