Ben Cipiti

DMTS, Nuclear Energy Fuel Cycle

Ben Cipiti is a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff in the Nuclear Energy Fuel Cycle program area at Sandia National Laboratories with over 18 years of experience in safeguards and security analysis for advanced nuclear reactors and fuel cycle facilities.

He is the National Technical Director for the Advanced Reactor Safeguards Program in the Office of Nuclear Energy within the Department of Energy. This program works to help advanced and small reactor vendors solve material control and accounting and physical protection challenges for U.S. deployment. Ben helps direct work across the national laboratory complex to find new approaches to support safe and secure civilian use of nuclear energy.

Ben has a deep technical background in safeguards and developed the Separation and Safeguards Performance Model (SSPM) for analysis and design of materials accountancy systems for nuclear facilities. The SSPM modeling capabilities cover a range of nuclear fuel cycle facilities including enrichment, fuel fabrication, aqueous reprocessing, pyroprocessing, and advanced nuclear reactors. Much of this work has been strengthened by teaming with security and safety experts across the laboratory to explore new approaches and develop new ideas. These capabilities have been applied to both U.S. domestic and international safeguards and security challenges.

Safeguards, Security (including Cyber), and Safety by Design is a core principle in Ben’s work. He works to promote the need for consideration of the 3S’s early in the design process to help the nuclear industry develop robust yet cost effective system designs.

Ben has a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio University-Athens.