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About Daniel Poneman
Daniel Poneman has spent five decades at the intersection of energy policy, national security and corporate leadership. His tenure as United States deputy secretary of energy was the longest in that office's history and included a period as acting secretary of energy in 2013. He later led Centrus Energy Corp., restoring the company to profitability and multiplying its market cap by a factor of 20. in 2026, The Atlantic Council named the Daniel B. Poneman Chair for Nuclear Energy Policy in his honor.
Poneman's book Double Jeopardy argues that nuclear energy and nonproliferation policy must be addressed as a unified strategy. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American and the Harvard Gazette, and he hosts the podcast Atomically Speaking for the Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition.
Daniel's Keynote Topics
From hurricanes to hackers, the systems that keep the lights on in America are under sustained attack — and most Americans have no idea how close to the edge those systems operate. Daniel B. Poneman, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, oversaw the Department of Energy's resilience and emergency response efforts through crises ranging from Fukushima to Hurricane Sandy, and later led Centrus Energy Corp. through the nuclear industry's own security challenges. In this talk, Poneman explains how cyberattacks, physical sabotage, and extreme weather are converging to threaten the electric grid and other critical systems, and what utilities, regulators, and companies must do to build real resilience. Audiences leave understanding the specific vulnerabilities facing US infrastructure today and the practical steps that can reduce the risk.
According to Daniel B. Poneman, author of Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change (MIT Press) and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, humanity faces two existential threats that are often addressed separately — even though the tools to fight them are deeply intertwined. Drawing on his years overseeing US nuclear security and energy policy, Poneman argues that a coherent, bipartisan strategy can simultaneously reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism and accelerate the transition to low-carbon energy. In this talk, he lays out what that integrated approach looks like in practice, from securing nuclear materials against military uses to scaling next-generation reactor technology. Audiences leave with a framework for understanding why these two challenges must be confronted together, not in isolation.
A modern AI data center can consume as much electricity as an American city — and the United States is building them faster than it can generate the power to run them. Daniel B. Poneman, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy (2009–2014) and Acting Secretary of Energy in 2013, now a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, has spent the years since leading Centrus Energy Corp. tracking this collision between artificial intelligence and America's aging grid. In this presentation, Poneman examines why data center electricity demand is projected to triple by 2030, what role nuclear power, natural gas, and renewables will each play in closing the gap, and why the choices made today will shape US competitiveness and global influence for decades. Audiences leave with a clear-eyed view of the infrastructure race behind the AI boom and what it will take to win it.
Books by Daniel Poneman
Articles by Daniel Poneman
Critics of the U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal Have It Exactly Wrong
August 2026The National InterestAmerica Doubles Down on a New Nuclear Energy Future
May 2026Council on Foreign RelationsEnergy Security: Back to the Future
April 2026Council on Foreign RelationsJapan’s Energy Picture Fifteen Years Post-Fukushima
March 2026Council on Foreign RelationsCOP30: Climate Experts Assess Progress in Brazil And Beyond
November 2025The National InterestRestoring U.S. Nuclear Energy Leadership
March 2025The Belfer Center for Science and International AffairsThe Deal That Got Away: The 2009 Nuclear Fuel Swap with Iran
January 2021Scientific AmericanWe Can’t Solve Climate Change without Nuclear Power
May 2019Belfer Center for Science and International AffairsForging a New Consensus to Fight Climate Change and Weapons Proliferation
August 2016Daniel in the Media
Does the U.S.-Saudi Civil Nuclear Agreement Serve America's Interests?
U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal faces pushback over weapons risk
The Race for Energy with Daniel Poneman
On the Iran War’s Economic Fallout
Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and an Unprecedented Energy Crunch
Nuclear has changed. Will the U.S. change with it?
A New Age for Nuclear Energy, with Daniel Poneman
Daniel Poneman of the U.S. Department of Energy and Centrus Energy
CFR Welcomes Daniel B. Poneman Back as Senior Fellow
It's Time to Expand Nuclear Power
The real trade-offs attached to going green with nuclear energy
Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change — Interview with Daniel Poneman
Nuclear weapons and climate change present very different but very significant global risks. Dan Poneman is one of the few who has worked at and contributed to mitigation of both risks and now has shared this experience through insightful analysis and commonsense recommendations. Double Jeopardy should be required reading for policymakers.
Ernest J. MonizFormer U.S. Secretary of Energy and CEO, Nuclear Threat Initiative
Dan Poneman has done what very few have even tried, and what no one has actually succeeded in doing—to persuade almost everyone along the long ideological spectrum that the issues of climate change and nuclear power are inextricably connected. There will be no addressing the former without the latter. Read this book. If it will not change your mind, then at least it will change your approach. Very few authors can do that. Poneman has.
Hugh HewittHost, The Hugh Hewitt Show
Presidents of both parties have relied upon Dan Poneman's wise counsel on matters of global nuclear and energy security. In this important book, Dan outlines a rationale and a roadmap for reinvigorating America's nuclear leadership, which is indispensable to protecting our planet and all who live here.
Sam NunnFormer U.S. Senator and Co-Chair, Nuclear Threat Initiative
Double Jeopardy is a must-read for anyone who cares about the world our grandchildren will inherit. Dan Poneman shows us how we can address the two greatest threats to our long-term future—at the same time. Brilliant!
Susan EisenhowerMember, Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future
In this insightful and useful book, Dan Poneman explores the two great existential threats that we face: nuclear annihilation and climate change. He provides not just convincing analysis but also some clear and crisp proposed solutions. In a time of muddled thinking, this book is urgently needed.
Walter IsaacsonFormer President and CEO, Aspen Institute
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