Steven A. Arndt

Steven A Arndt

Distinguished R&D Staff Member

Steven A. Arndt is an internationally recognized expert in the field of nuclear engineering with experience in nuclear power plant simulation, severe accident analysis and nuclear power plant instrumentation and control.  In his 40 years in the nuclear industry Dr. Arndt has worked as a researcher, educator, consultant, and regulator including extensive experience in Russia and Ukraine leading the United States support programs to the states of the former Soviet Union following the Chernobyl accident and as part of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's response to the Fukushima accident. 

Dr. Arndt currently serves as a Distinguished R&D staff member at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where his research involves advance reactor design readiness.  Previously he spent 31 years as a senior scientist with the NRC, leading a number of key research efforts and providing authoritative advice to NRC management and staff in the areas of digital instrumentation and control, software reliability, emergency response, cyber security and numerous other technical areas, for which he was awarded the NRC Distinguished Service Award.  Prior to his work at the NRC, Dr. Arndt was a Professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. Additionally, Dr. Arndt serves as an Adjunct Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee. In 2012 Dr. Arndt was named the Federal Engineer of the Year by the National Society of Professional Engineers, the first nuclear engineer to ever be awarded this honor.  In 2020 Dr. Arndt was awarded the “NSPE Award” the highest honor given specifically to a professional engineer.

Dr. Arndt holds a B.S. in engineering physics and a M.S. and Ph.D. in nuclear engineering all from The Ohio State University, where he was honored by the faculty of the College of Engineering in 2004 as a Distinguished Alumnus.  Dr. Arndt also holds a M.S. in reliability engineering from the University of Maryland.  Dr. Arndt is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Nuclear Society (ANS), the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE).  Dr. Arndt is a registered professional engineer and was appointed by the Governor of Maryland in 2006 to the Maryland Board for Professional Engineers, where he served for fifteen years (Three years as Chairman). 

Dr. Arndt was the 2022 -2023 President of the ANS.

  • Fellow, National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
  • NSPE, Federal Engineer of the Year (2012) 
  • NSPE Award, NSPE’s highest individual award 
  • Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
  • Fellow, American Society for Quality (ASQ) 
  • Fellow, American Nuclear Society (ANS) 
  • ANS Presidential Citation (2 awards) 
  • ANS Leadership Award
  • ANS Don Miller Award Fellow
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 
  • Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 
  • NCEES Northeast Zone Distinguished Service Award 
  • Distinguished Alumnus Award, Ohio State University, College of Engineering 
  • Lamme Medal, Ohio State University, College of Engineering 
  • Nuclear Engineering Achievement Award, The Ohio State University  
  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Distinguished Service Award 
  • NRC Meritorious Service Award
  • The Ohio State University B.S., Engineering Physics
  • The Ohio State University M.S., Nuclear Engineering 
  • The University of Maryland M.S., Reliability Engineering 
  • The Ohio State University Ph.D., Nuclear Engineering