McNeill honored as nuclear statesman
Mr. Corbin A. McNeill, Jr., was presented with the Henry DeWolf Smyth Award on May 23 during the Nuclear Energy Assembly Conference. The annual conference sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Institute was held in Washington, DC. This is a joint award presented annually to a world nuclear leader by the American Nuclear Society and NEI. ANS President Jim Lake made the presentation to Mr. McNeill.
Henry DeWolf Smyth
Nuclear Statesman Award
Presented to Corbin A. McNeill, Jr.
Chairman and co-CEO, Exelon Corporation
and President, Exelon Generation Company
Remarks by James Lake
President
American Nuclear Society
May 23, 2001
Nuclear Statesman Award
Presented to Corbin A. McNeill, Jr.
Chairman and co-CEO, Exelon Corporation
and President, Exelon Generation Company
Remarks by James Lake
President
American Nuclear Society
May 23, 2001
The Henry DeWolf Smyth Nuclear Statesman Award was established in 1972 jointly by the American Nuclear Society and the Atomic Industrial Forum (now the Nuclear Energy Institute). The Smyth Award is one of our most prestigious awards, recognizing outstanding and statesmanlike contributions in the many aspects of peaceful applications of nuclear energy.
Dr. Smyth began his career as a physicist, educator, and Department Chair at Princeton University. He served on the Atomic Energy Commission from 1949 to 1954, and in 1961 was appointed by President John F. Kennedy as the U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency with the rank of Ambassador. The Smyth award honors exceptional individuals who emulate Dr. Smyth's values of free exchange of technical information, and open and effective communication of the facts about nuclear energy. Dr. Smyth became one of America's most important statesmen in a time after World War II, and during the ensuing Cold War, when much of the information about nuclear energy was cloaked in secrecy. Dr. Smyth believed that the realization of the many benefits of the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology required that citizens be fully informed in order to make knowledgeable policy decisions in the Nation's interest.
In the nearly 30 years since the establishment of the Smyth Nuclear Statesman Award, an impressive and distinguished list of world nuclear leaders have been honored with the Award. This list includes Senator Pete Domenici, Joe Farley and Bill Lee, John Simpson and Bert Wolfe, and Ambassador Richard Kennedy.
In keeping with this great tradition, I am honored to present the Smyth Nuclear Statesman Award this year to Mr. Corbin A. McNeill, Jr. Corbin McNeill probably needs less introduction to this audience than I do. He enjoyed a successful and distinguished 20-year career in the U.S. Navy as a Commanding Officer of a nuclear submarine, served as Senior Vice President for Nuclear Generation at the New York Power Authority, as Senior Vice President for Nuclear at Public Service Electric and Gas Company, and Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer at PECO Energy. At PECO, he turned a once troubled nuclear operation into a performance leader that was named "Utility of the Year" by the Washington International Group and Electric Light and Power Magazine. Corbin is currently the Chairman and co-CEO of Exelon Corporation, and the President of Exelon Generation Company, the product of a merger last year between PECO Energy Company and Unicom Corporation. Exelon is now the largest nuclear generating company in the Country with 17 nuclear power plants (and we hope more to come).
It is especially noteworthy, I think, that it is Corbin's vision of a new generation of cheaper and safer Pebble Bed Modular Reactors that has played a pivotal role in the revitalization of interest in nuclear energy in this Country. His vision has not only stimulated his colleagues in industry, but it has become a shared vision inspiring university students and laboratory researchers, and it serves as a beacon for U.S. leadership in advanced nuclear energy systems in the international community.
I can think of no more deserving winner of the Smyth Nuclear Statesman Award than Corbin McNeill. Let me read an excerpt from the nomination letter from Senator Pete Domenici: "Corbin is providing superb leadership into the new era that is dawning with nuclear energy?[Our] efforts to create a national dialogue on nuclear technology and encourage a rebirth of enthusiasm for nuclear energy have benefited immensely from discussions with Corbin. His Congressional testimony has led me and other Members to better appreciate the opportunities that nuclear energy offers."
Let me close by saying thank you from all of us for your energy, your vision, and your continued leadership toward a brighter future for nuclear energy.
