Jack Spencer specializes in nuclear energy issues in both the domestic and global arenas as The Heritage Foundation’s senior research fellow in nuclear energy policy.
Spencer studies and writes about nuclear waste management, technological advances, industry subsidies and international approaches to nuclear energy. As part of Heritage's Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, he also researches regulation of the industry, proliferation issues, the global energy market, and national security uses for nuclear power.
Much of Spencer’s work centers on developing a comprehensive, subsidy-free, market-based approach to nuclear energy policy. That strategy includes fighting to preserve Yucca Mountain as a safe repository for nuclear materials.
Spencer has testified before Congress on related topics, including nuclear loan guarantees and international implications of the growth of commercial nuclear power. The President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future heard his testimony in 2010 on how to introduce market forces into public policy for safely managing nuclear waste.
Spencer began his second tour of duty at Heritage in September 2007, after working on commercial, civilian and military components of nuclear energy at the Babcock & Wilcox Companies, based in Charlotte, N.C. From 1998 to 2005, he was a Heritage analyst on defense and national security.
Spencer is quoted regularly in national newspapers such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. He has appeared as a guest expert on Fox News, MSNBC, C-SPAN and BBC, among other TV outlets, as well as on National Public Radio and such radio programs as “The Rush Limbaugh Show.”
He holds a bachelor's degree in international politics from Frostburg State University and a master's degree from the University of Limerick. While in Ireland, he began research toward a doctorate in international relations and national security.
Spencer, who grew up in Mount Savage, Md., currently resides in Washington, D.C., with his wife and daughter.