INL’s Net-Zero Initiative

Daunting tasks are nothing new for Jhansi Kandasamy. Her remarkable record of accomplishments over three decades suggests she is quite often the first to succeed where others fall short.

Her latest first? She was recently named Idaho National Laboratory’s net-zero director, where she’s charged with achieving net-zero carbon emissions at INL within the next 10 years. She ambitiously plans to be 75% toward that goal within the next 5 years. 

INL Director John Wagner announced the Net-Zero initiative on Earth Day 2021, and he acknowledged it won’t be easy. “I understand this is an audacious goal,” he said. “But overcoming significant national challenges is exactly what national laboratories were established to do.”

Leadership turned to Kandasamy, who at the time was vice president of Engineering Services Nuclear at GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a position she held since 2015. She also happens to serve on INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex Strategic Advisory Council. 

As a 30-year veteran of the nuclear industry, she has worked in every position from an electrical system engineer, a regulatory assurance manager and work management director at nuclear power plants. 

Since starting her new job Oct. 11, Kandasamy has dived into INL’s long-term asset management plans. She knows the net-zero goal is challenging, but it’s doable. Some strategies are straightforward, like replacing carbon-emitting diesel generators with carbon-free electrical sources and converting INL’s transportation fleet—including dozens of diesel-powered buses—to electric- or hydrogen-fueled vehicles. 

She is laser-focused on getting the infrastructure in place within 5 years and thinks that can be accomplished by partnering with others with similar goals to speed things up.

Born to break barriers

Kandasamy was 8 years old when she came to the United States from India with her family, settling in Pennsylvania where her father was working on his third master’s degree in mechanical engineering. 

Kandasamy’s father inspired his daughter to dream big, encouraging her to become a nuclear engineer. She eventually graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Pennsylvania State University. She later received a Master of Business Administration from Eastern University.

Her earliest foray into nuclear energy was during her college internship working as an electrical engineer at the Limerick Generating Station, an 1,100-megawatt nuclear power plant near her home outside Philadelphia. She later became a certified senior reactor operator at that plant.

Throughout her career, she eagerly accepted challenges, defying preconceived notions about women in science. 

“My experiences as the only female at a nuclear power plant for many years has contributed to my leadership style,” she said.

Her passion for gender inclusivity was inspired by her father, who two decades ago started a college in a village in southern India to help underprivileged men and women succeed through education. Kandasamy took over as chair and president of the college after her father died last year.

She knows her father would have been excited about her choice to take the INL job. In years past, he sent her articles about the nation’s first power plant in Idaho, research being conducted at the lab, and the many innovations at INL.

And as for INL’s Net-Zero initiative? She feels up for the task. “I like to make things happen,” Kandasamy said. “I love a challenge, and I would tell you almost every job that I’ve had somebody tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey, we’d like you to do this job.’ That pushed me to excel and work harder to be the best.” 

About INL: Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. INL is the nation’s center for nuclear energy research and development, and also performs research in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and the environment.