Dr. Rick Springman is senior vice president of international projects. In this role, he is responsible for managing international project development and overseeing project execution for private and public sector utilities in South America, Europe, East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Dr. Springman employs a technology-driven focus to develop and execute projects for small modular reactors, decommissioning, spent fuel and waste management, heat transfer equipment, nuclear power plant engineering and site services, and energy storage technologies. Reporting directly to the President/CEO, Dr. Springman directs strategic business development, manages government relations, and strengthens partnerships while expanding Holtec’s supply chain. 

Dr. Springman’s efforts have resulted in the successful establishment of numerous international operation centers, including Holtec Britain Limited (UK), Holtec do Brasil (Brazil), Holtec Europe (Madrid), Holtec Japan (Tokyo) and the Holtec South African branch. Dr. Springman is involved in corporate strategy, has led several new ventures for Holtec, and routinely contributes and leads new product development.

Industry Leadership

Dr. Springman was appointed to Holtec’s Executive Committee in 2018. He advises the President/CEO on corporate policies, administration, growth plans, acquisitions and other corporate strategies. He serves on the Board of Directors for several Holtec company divisions and serves as a company representative on U.S.-E.U. Public Private Partnerships for Small Modular Reactors, Nuclear Energy Industry subcommittees, other interfaces within the industry, U.S. government entities (State, Commerce, DOE) and foreign governments.

Patents

Dr. Springman holds several patents developed for Holtec in the broad area of spent fuel management.

Title	Year	Patent No.	Status
Fuel Basket for Spent Nuclear Fuel and Container Implementing the Same	2023	US 10,854,346 B2, 10-2039918, US 11,715,575 B2	Granted
Method of Retrofitting a Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage System	2022	US 10,867,714 B2, US 10,297,356 B2, US 9,640,289 B2, EP 3134900, US 11,515,054 B2	Granted
Snap-in Insert for Reactivity Control in Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools and Casks	2020	US 10,535,440 B2, US 9,685,248 B2	Granted
Method for Controlling Temperature of a Portion of a Radioactive Waste Storage System and for Implementing the Same	2015	US 9,105,365 B2	Granted

Education

Before joining Holtec in 2009, Dr. Springman completed both his undergraduate and doctoral studies in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania; he currently serves on the External Advisory Board for the department. His doctoral research focused on the mechanics of biological cell adhesion, which has important implications for directed growth of tissue culture and new therapies that can alter tissue environments to treat disease. As an undergraduate, his studies focused on robotics and control theory while he competed as an athlete on the University of Pennsylvania Wrestling Team, achieving National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All-American and Academic All-American status in two separate years. Dr. Springman also has prior experience as a technology consultant.