Centrus Energy CEO Daniel Poneman will receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star from the Japanese government for his work as deputy energy secretary during the Barack Obama administration.
Japan will recognize Poneman for “his contributions towards enhancing the relationship between Japan and the United States of America in the energy sector,” according to a late April press release from the Japanese Embassy to the United States. The announcement specifically cited Poneman’s work as co-chair of the U.S.-Japan Bilateral Commission on Civil Nuclear Cooperation in 2012, and his promotion of U.S. liquefied natural gas exports to Japan.
The two nations formed the coalition about a year after the explosive meltdown of multiple nuclear reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant on March 11, 2011.
The commission, which is still active, was formed “to foster a comprehensive strategic dialogue and joint activities related to the safe and secure implementation of civil nuclear energy and the response to the accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station, including decommissioning and decontamination,” according to a 2013 press release from the Japanese government.
“Centrus’ longstanding role as a key supplier to Japan’s nuclear industry is a perfect example of how the partnership between our two nations extends far beyond government-to-government cooperation,” Poneman said in a press release issued Wednesday by the Bethesda, Md.-based nuclear fuel supplier. “I am humbled and honored to receive this decoration and look forward to continuing to advance our partnership to the best of my ability.”
There are several levels of the Order of the Rising Sun, and Poneman will receive the second-highest, according to the website for the Japanese Cabinet Office. The award, established in 1875 after then-Emperor Meiji’s government presided over the unification and industrialization of Japan, is “Japan’s first award,” the website says.
Poneman was deputy secretary of energy from 2009 to 2014. He joined Centrus after leaving the government. Centrus is the former U.S. Enrichment Corp., which changed its name after emerging from bankruptcy in 2014.
The government of Japan may award the Order of the Rising Sun to around 100 or more foreign nationals each year. With the COVID-19 global pandemic still preventing both large and intimate gatherings the world over, it was not clear when Poneman might receive his hardware, which consists of medals and a sash.
Poneman joins an eclectic order of Rising Sun honorees that includes, among many others in contemporary memory: William Perry, the former defense secretary turned nuclear-disarmament activist; and Momofuku Ando, the inventor of Top Ramen brand instant noodles. Ando, who died in 2007, received the award twice, according to Top Ramen maker Nissin Foods of Hong Kong. Japan may confer the award posthumously.
