Chuck Peterson is Senior Of Counsel member of the Covington Burling legal team. He is a highly regarded international nuclear power industry expert with world renown expertise in handling complex legal negotiations, deal-making advisory capabilities and experience closing multi-billion dollar transactions involving the building of new nuclear power plants.
Mr. Peterson has served as legal advisor to:
- the CEO of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation from 2006 to 2012, representing ENEC and the Abu Dhabi government in the development of the UAE’s nuclear power project, a milestone project for the construction of four large nuclear reactors in the UAE that the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) won the right to construct. Mr. Peterson was chiefly responsible for developing the legal and contractual framework behind the project, which is now considered a benchmark model for future projects. Mr. Peterson was formally recognized for his work with a commendation from the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
- King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A. CARE) for the development of Saudi Arabian nuclear power programs from 2014 to 2017. He assisted Saudi Arabia in efforts to negotiate a 123 Agreement with the United States and was involved in the development of the Saudi government’s nuclear power program.
- a group of international nuclear power plant operators in litigation over ownership of uranium where the powers of the EU’s European Supply Agency were in question. The ECJ’s Grand Chamber decided that the Supply Agency had only limited power to regulate uranium trade in Europe. As a result of the ruling, the European Commission began reforming the Supply Agency’s governing statutes, the first such rewrite in its 50-year history. This was one of a few private cases heard by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice.
- the Little Willow NPP Project with an introduction to MidAmerican Energy and participated in negotiating the Little Willow contract with KEPCO.
- a major Japanese trading company in assisting a group of major U.S.-based engineering firms that intend to bid to be the first major U.S. contractors to directly assist Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in decommissioning the Fukushima reactor site.
Mr. Peterson earned both a JD at Stanford Law School and an MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to that, Mr. Peterson attended the US Naval Academy where he earned his BS in Naval Science and Operational Studies.
Mr. Peterson previously worked at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP for seventeen years, serving as a partner and Head of the International Energy Practice. He was also a former NRC licensed Senior Reactor Operator and a licensed nuclear power plant shift supervisor.