With the retirement of a top executive, Sharon Smoot will step in as president of BWX Technologies’ Nuclear Operations Group effective Aug. 1, the company said in a press release Wednesday morning.
In her new role, Smoot will be responsible for the operations group’s complete range of nuclear components and services, “including the manufacture of nuclear reactor components for U.S. Navy submarines and aircraft carriers and other nuclear and non-nuclear R&D and component production,” BWXT said in the release.
BWXT appointed Smoot to replace Joel Duling, who announced last week that he planned to retire as head of the Lynchburg, Va.-based operations group on Friday.
As recently as this year, Smoot had worked at Bechtel as manager of business strategy. She joined that company in 2019 after a long Navy career. Smoot spent three decades in the Navy, including in the senior executive service position as executive director for logistics, maintenance and industrial operations for the Naval Sea Systems Command. She also worked in the Navy’s Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Fleet Forces Command and at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
Smoot has a master’s degree in engineering management from Old Dominion University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech.
