News & Events

Good morning and welcome to the 2012 Nuclear Energy Assembly. I’m Marv Fertel, the president and chief executive officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute.

We are delighted to be in Charlotte, the home of 50 headquarters or local offices of NEI members and more than 100 specific energy cluster firms. In fact, more than half of the Fortune 500 companies have a presence in this city.

Over the next day and a half, we will challenge you to think in new ways and inspire you to act more creatively. This year’s Nuclear Energy Assembly includes everything from discussions of election-year politics to reflections on developing a nuclear work force to dialog on efforts to make our nuclear energy facilities even safer.

Our theme this year is “Setting a New Agenda”: for our industry, for our companies, for ourselves.

Nuclear energy is so important to attaining and maintaining a quality standard of living here in America and even more so for the 2 billion people around the world who still do not have access to electricity.

I’m talking about a new agenda for facing what is a new and uncertain world in the electric sector.
Given the upheaval in the energy markets, the availability of cheap natural gas,  the global economic downturn, the partisan political climate, it’s an appropriate time to take a fresh look at what drives our business as well as the external forces that we must manage.

On the bright side, our industry is building four new reactors at sites in Georgia and South Carolina.

Congratulations to Southern Company and SCANA and their ownership partners and also to Westinghouse and The Shaw Group on their work to secure the permits necessary to advance to construction at Vogtle and Summer. These are among the most significant job-creators in the Southeast today!

These projects notwithstanding, slow economic growth over the last few years has slowed the demand for electricity. And the low cost of natural gas makes that fuel attractive for many utilities.

Responding to last year’s accident in Japan has been a priority at NEI and throughout the industry. The Fukushima Response Steering Committee has integrated the industry’s best talent to enhance safety at U.S. reactors, including proactive industry measures and requirements defined by the NRC.

Our priority has been consistent: to make the changes that will provide the greatest safety benefits in the shortest amount of time with the least distraction to our commitment to safe operations.

The NRC and the industry generally are aligned on post-Fukushima safety enhancements. There has been a high level of transparency in the process, and the issues raised for the top-priority recommendations are being addressed.

Over the last year, the industry and the NRC have spent a tremendous amount of effort to define the path forward. Now the work is shifting to the individual sites as they respond to requests for information and comply with new regulations.

NEI, of course, will continue in its vital role of representing the industry and providing generic assistance as the new regulations are developed and implemented.

As the NRC moves to the second and third tier of post-Fukushima priorities and, while work on the first tier continues, we must be careful not to let a rush to act distract us from what is most important.
Distraction—not complacency—is our enemy.

We come together at a time when there are broad new trends in the electricity sector, driven by both a fervent regulatory climate in Washington and the absence of energy policy from Congress.

As our industry is transformed in structure and technology over the next decade, there will be associated changes in current plant operation and new reactor development, perhaps even in the management strategy for used nuclear fuel.

Our speakers over the next two days will share their insights on these trends and more as we examine and shape the nuclear energy industry’s new agenda.