DISCLOSURE OF POTENTIALLY RELEVANT ROLES & INTERESTS - EXPERT ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Royal Commission has established an Expert Advisory Committee to provide advice and guidance to it throughout its investigation. The members of the Committee were chosen so as to ensure access to advice on a broad range of issues from different perspectives.

The Committee provides advice to the Commission in relation to topics which include:

  • nuclear industry and science;
  • society and environmental sustainability;
  • socio-economic modelling; and
  • regulation and safeguards.

Each member of the Committee and a brief description of his or her background is outlined below. Further, information is also available as to each member’s:

  • current employment, consulting or research activities which may be relevant to the Commission’s Terms of Reference (current potentially relevant activities);
  • employment, consulting or research activities carried out in the last five years which may be relevant to the Commission’s Terms of Reference (potentially relevant activities in the last five years); and
  • interests, being direct pecuniary interests or interests arising by association with organisations or professional associations, which may be relevant to the Commission’s Terms of Reference (other potentially relevant interests). It does not include indirect pecuniary interests such as shares held by a superannuation fund in which the member has an account.
  • Professor Barry Brook – Chair of Environmental Sustainability, University of Tasmania

    Professor Brook has been Chair of Environmental Sustainability at the University of Tasmania since 2014. In the past, he held the Sir Hubert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change at the University of Adelaide. He has received several awards for his research, including the Australian Academy of Science Fenner Medal and the Royal Society of NSW Edgeworth David Medal.

    Professor Brook’s research focuses include the causes and consequences of climate change, energy systems analysis and models of the synergies of human interactions with the biosphere. He has published many books, peer-reviewed scientific papers and articles in popular media, a number of which relate to the nuclear industry.

    Current potentially relevant activities:

    • Professor, Chair of Environmental Sustainability, University of Tasmania
    • International Awards Committee, Global Energy Prize

    Potentially relevant activities in the last five years:

    • Director, Climate Science, University of Adelaide
    • SA Premier’s Climate Change Council
    • SA Premier’s Science and Research Council

    Other potentially relevant interests

    • Nil
  • John Carlson AM — former Director-General, Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office (ASNO)

    John Carlson AM was the Director-General of the Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office (ASNO) from 1989 until 2010. From 2001 until 2006, he was Chair of the IAEA’s Standing Advisory Group on Safeguards Implementation. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, and from 2009 to 2012 was Founding Chair of the Asia-Pacific Safeguards Network. 

    Mr Carlson is currently a Fellow of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management and a recipient of the Institute’s Distinguished Service Award. In 2012, John Carlson was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia “for service to public administration, particularly in the areas of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and to the development of international safeguards policy”. 

    Mr Carlson has contributed to books and published a number of articles in peer-reviewed journals and in popular media. His publications relate to topics such as nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament, verification and security issues. 

    Current potentially relevant activities:

    • Fellow, Institute of Nuclear Materials Management
    • Non-resident Fellow, Lowy Institute
    • Counsellor, Nuclear Threat Initiative (USA)
    • Advisory Council, International Luxembourg Forum (Russia)
    • Associate, Project on Managing the Atom (Harvard University)
    • Adviser, Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament
    • International Verification Consultants Network, VERTIC (UK)

     Potentially relevant activities in the last five years:

    • Director General, Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO)
    • Australian Sherpa, 2010 Nuclear Security Summit
    • Founding Chair, Asia Pacific Safeguards Network

     Other potentially relevant interests:

    • Nil
  • Professor Ian Lowe AO — Emeritus Professor of Science, Technology and Society, Griffith University

    Professor Ian Lowe AO is an emeritus professor of science, technology and society at Griffith University in Brisbane and an adjunct professor at both Flinders University in South Australia and Sunshine Coast University in Queensland. He has degrees in engineering and physics, and is the author of 20 books and more than 500 other publications. Some of Professor Lowe’s published books and articles relate to the nuclear industry.

    As a result of his contributions to environmental science, Professor Lowe has been awarded a Centenary Medal, the Eureka Prize for promotion of science, the Prime Minister’s Environment Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement, the Queensland Premier’s Millennium Award for Excellence in Science, and the University of NSW Alumni Award for achievement in science. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2005 and became a Bragg Member of the Royal Institution, Australia in 2015.

    In 1988, Professor Lowe was named Humanist of the Year. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2001. In 2004, he was elected the President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, a position he held until 2014.

    Current potentially relevant activities:

    • Emeritus Professor, Griffith University
    • Adjunct Professor, Flinders University
    • Adjunct Professor, Sunshine Coast University

    Potentially relevant activities in the last five years:

    • Member, Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council
    • President, Australian Conservation Foundation
    • Member, Environmental Health Council
    • Deputy Chair, Queensland Sustainable Energy Innovation Group

    Other potentially relevant interests:

    • Nil
  • Dr Leanna Read — Chief Scientist for South Australia

    Dr Leanna Read is the fourth Chief Scientist for South Australia and a renowned biotechnology expert.

    Dr Read is currently the chair of the Cooperative Research Centre for Cell Therapy Manufacturing and member of the SA Economic Development Board, the Council for the University of South Australia and a member of BioAngels, which supports early-stage life sciences businesses.

    Dr Read is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and Board Director of Biosensis Pty Ltd. She has led a number of successful research and commercial ventures, including the Cooperative Research Centre for Tissue Growth and Repair. She was also the founding Managing Director and CEO of Adelaide biotechnology company, TGR BioSciences from 2001 – 2012.

    A physiologist by training, Dr Read has published over 90 scientific papers and been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Australia. She has received a number of awards, including the 2006 South Australian of the Year (Science and Technology) and the 2011 Central Region winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the Technology Category.

    Current potentially relevant activities:

    • Chief Scientist for South Australia

    Potentially relevant activities in the last five years:

    • Nil

    Other potentially relevant interests:

    • Nil
  • Dr Timothy Stone CBE — Visiting Professor, International Energy Policy Institute, University College London Adelaide

    Dr Timothy Stone CBE holds a Visiting Professorship at University College London. He is a non-executive member of the Board of the European Investment Bank and was the senior adviser to the UK Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (and predecessor departments responsible for energy policy) between 2007 and 2013.

    Dr Stone graduated from Oxford with a degree and doctorate in Physical Chemistry. He has spent his career in business and investment, advising governments and the private sector.

    He is the former Global Chairman of KPMG’s Infrastructure Group. Prior to joining KPMG, he was a Director at SG Warburg & Co where he was a founder of the operator of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, London & Continental Railways. Before joining SG Warburg with his team in the late 1980s, he was a Managing Director at Chase Manhattan in New York, where he ran one of the Bank’s international businesses for a number of years.

    Dr Stone was appointed a Commander of the British Empire in the 2010 Birthday Honours List for services to the energy industry and in March 2011, Dr Stone was honoured by the leading infrastructure publication, Infrastructure Journal, with only their second Lifetime Achievement Award.

    Current potentially relevant activities:

    • Non-executive Chairman, Nuclear Risk Insurers (UK)
    • Non-executive Director, Arup Group Board (UK)
    • Non-executive Director, Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd (UK)
    • Visiting Professorship, International Energy Policy Institute, University College London (Adelaide)
    • Chairman, Energy Island Board (Anglesey, Wales)

    Potentially relevant activities in the last five years:

    • Senior Adviser to the Secretary of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (UK)
    • Expert Chair, Office of Nuclear Development, Department of Energy and Climate Change (UK)

    Other potentially relevant interests:

    • Nil