Stephen (Steve) McDuffie has over 30 years of nuclear safety experience. He has served as a seismic engineer for the Chief of Nuclear Safety (CNS) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management since September 2008.  In this position he oversees natural phenomena hazard characterization and design activities at DOE facilities, as well as maintaining operational awareness at several of DOE’s high hazard nuclear facilities. Prior to this, he worked 10 years as a Facility Representative at the Hanford Site, where he oversaw contractor environmental remediation activities, with a focus on nuclear safety, worker safety, and environmental protection. Prior to DOE, McDuffie worked nearly six years for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in Rockville, Maryland. At the NRC, he primarily served as a geologist reviewing volcanic hazards, seismic hazards, and groundwater flow at the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. He also inspected fabricators and users of storage and transport casks for spent nuclear fuel.

McDuffie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geology from Whitman College; Master of Arts and Ph.D degrees in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University, where he investigated the physical and chemical differentiation processes in magma; and an Master of Business Administration from Washington State University Tri-Cities with a focus on decision sciences and revenue management.