Dr Kath Smith
Chief Nuclear Officer
Assistant Director General
Dr Kath Smith is the Chief Nuclear Officer in the Australian Submarine Agency.
Kath is a highly effective leader with extensive experience at the interface between government, academia and industry. Kath’s nuclear expertise spans nuclear policy, governance and assurance, the fuel cycle (from mining to waste management) and radiopharmaceutical production.
Her resume includes, over twenty years as a Principal Research Scientist and Section Head with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and six years as Australian (nuclear) diplomat in Washington and Vienna.
Kath holds a PhD in Physics, is a Graduate of the World Institute of Nuclear Security and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Her executive education includes the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Nuclear Executive Short Course (2023). Kath is also a member of the Board of Microscopy Australia, a committee member for Women in Nuclear Australia, and (Australia’s) Country Representative to Women in Nuclear Global.
Her sector experience spans
- Government: nuclear energy, technology, regulation, and policy, env. rehabilitation
- Energy and Nuclear: characterisation & performance assessment of structural and nuclear fuel cycle materials in extreme environments and/or over time using electron, neutron and x-ray imaging, and modelling
- Radiopharmaceuticals: participation in commercial and policy discussions between ANSTO Nuclear Medicine and its international peers
- Defence & Space: CBRN situational awareness, radiation detector development and calibration, determination of the radiation hardness of electronics intended for space-based platforms
- Mining Sector: rehabilitation of the Ranger uranium mine site, characterisation & assessment of mineral ores, samples and specimens.
