Hans Gougar, PhD, is the Manager of Product Engineering at X-energy, where he serves as the lead engineer on the design of Xe-Mobile. Hans began his career in advanced reactor research and development when he joined the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in 1998. He specialized in high temperature reactor analysis methods, but also held various technical and personnel management positions over his 21-plus years at INL. 

He took a one-year sabbatical in South Africa, serving as a Senior Consultant for Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (SOC) (PBMR™), and returned to Idaho in 2009 for a role as the Deputy Technical Director and, later, the Director of the Advanced Reactor Technology Program. Hans was also the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Technical Director for Gas-Cooled Reactor Technology from 2016-2019. He concluded his term at INL with a brief stint as Director of Nuclear Design and Analysis Division before leaving to join X-energy in August of 2019. 

Hans earned a BS in Science Education form the University of Wisconsin. He taught secondary school physics for nine years before enrolling at Pennsylvania State University to pursue a master’s and PhD in nuclear engineering, in 1997 and 2004, respectively.