Thank you, Vic. Good morning everyone.

What a fitting collection of leaders to address the issue at hand today … the issue of leaders and leadership at a time when this remarkable business of nuclear energy charts a bold new future. I applaud Vic Parrish for his leadership in bringing this topic to the fore in this session.

And I’m very honored to speak to you today … because the timing couldn’t be better. In the event you haven’t noticed, nuclear energy is experiencing nothing short of a renaissance in every sense of the word.

I could ask for no better backdrop for my remarks today.

My intent today is three-fold:

• First, to relay my perspective on nuclear energy’s renaissance … to share my own sense of why this has come about … among the media … among policymakers … and among the public at large.
• Second, to outline a dynamic vision that is already taking shape ... a vision unveiled just a few months ago at NEI’s Nuclear Energy Assembly ... what we’ve termed “Vision 2020” ... a vision setting forth a clear framework to guide this industry over the next 20 years.
• And third, to examine some of the challenges before us ... and to issue a call for the leadership necessary to turn the vision into reality.

For those of you with a nautical background — and I guess I count myself among that group — I recall an old expression from sailing lore that seems appropriate here: “The world isn't interested in the storms you encountered, but whether or not you brought in the ship.”

I’m sure many in this room can talk about the storms our industry has encountered, but I’m here to talk to you about how we can pull together to make sure we bring in the ship.

There has been a real sea change in the industry. And we weathered those changes magnificently. We’ve not just survived. We’ve excelled.

Yet some big questions remain. How do we bring in the ship as we move forward? What are the challenges we face in bringing the ship in? What do we need to do to prepare ourselves for those challenges?

Jerry has already told us about the industry’s outstanding record of achievement over the past decade. That record is the main reason we now have the opportunity to ask the questions I am asking.

And that record is one of the main reasons the nuclear energy industry is creating its own brave new world. A world where new plant designs are being developed and companies are weighing the options for building new plants. A world where advanced new technologies are being introduced that will improve people’s lives. A world of unprecedented support at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue and along the entire length of Main Street, USA.

It has been an incredible year for the nuclear energy industry. Policymakers and the public increasingly recognize that nuclear energy is a vital part of America’s energy and environmental policy.

In the past few months, one could hardly pick up a newspaper or tune into a major news program without finding coverage of nuclear energy’s rebirth.

Why all the attention now?

Certainly, we operate a great technology—safe, reliable, competitive and environmentally clean. But make no mistake: the single biggest reason that nuclear energy is seen in a more favorable light is an uncompromising focus on safety and the outstanding performance of our nation’s 103 nuclear power plants over the past decade.

Because of the industry’s outstanding record of safety and achievement, investor confidence in nuclear energy is strong. Today, Wall Street rewards companies with nuclear generation in their mix, because they know that those companies provide an excellent return on investment.

The nuclear industry’s performance and our exceptional safety and performance levels have led to steady positive media coverage for the industry.

Virtually every major network news program has covered nuclear energy’s resurgence this year, as well as discussions ranging from the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer to Meet the Press.

We have also seen front-page stories on nuclear energy in The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and sustained favorable media coverage — stories and editorials — in newspapers from coast to coast.

For instance, a May editorial in The New York Times forthrightly noted, “there are good reasons to take a fresh look at this much-maligned source of energy.”

And the coverage is now reaching far beyond the question of the industry’s future and into the nuts-and-bolts issues we face, whether it’s coverage of new advanced designs like the pebble bed modular reactor or coverage of scientific research at the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada.

In part, because of the wide-ranging attention we have received recently, there is also a renewed awareness of nuclear energy’s value among the American public.

According to a recent national survey of public opinion conducted by Bisconti Research and Bruskin Research, support for building new nuclear power plants was 63% in July 2001, up from 42% in October 1999.

As you can imagine, the largest increase was in the West, where those in favor of building new plants increased from 33% in October 1999 to 63% in July of this year.

And among members of the public whose electric companies already operate nuclear plants, the support for new plants is much higher — 76 percent.

The public is beginning to recognize what we in the industry have long known: nuclear energy is the largest single contributor to the nation’s voluntary emission reduction program.

And these findings aren’t limited to industry-sponsored polls. The Field Poll, an independent survey of public opinion, recently measured public reactions in California to ways of easing the energy crisis.

For the first time since 1978, the poll showed that a majority of Californians support the construction of new nuclear plants in the state. Sixty-one percent of California’s registered voters “favor building more nuclear power plants to provide more electricity.”

Policymakers from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue have responded to the industry’s achievements as well.

Earlier this year, at NEI’s annual conference, Vice President Cheney was forthright in his support for nuclear energy — a key component of the administration’s new energy policy.

The Bush Administration has taken a bold step forward by calling for a national energy policy, because they realize the critical need for new electricity supplies that will drive our continued economic prosperity while safeguarding our environment.

And Congress is demonstrating its support for the industry by introducing legislation to boost the nuclear industry in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Earlier this year, Senator Pete Domenici introduced The Nuclear Energy Electricity Supply Assurance Act of 2001. This important piece of legislation contains provisions to encourage increased production from nuclear power plants, expand research and development on new reactor technologies, and ensure a viable domestic nuclear fuel industry and educational support system.

The bill also labels nuclear energy an “environmentally preferable” electricity technology, expands R&D on innovative used nuclear fuel management solutions, and reforms outdated NRC rules and procedures.

A companion to the Domenici bill has been introduced in the House by Congressmen Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Charles Stenholm of Texas.

We have also seen strong bipartisan support to renew the Price-Anderson Act, the nuclear energy industry-funded liability protection program, in six pieces of legislation.

Other legislation provides favorable provisions for nuclear energy in the context of a national energy policy. Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, the new Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, has introduced his own energy policy legislation with key provisions for nuclear energy.

And Senator Frank Murkowski of Alaska has introduced The National Energy Security Act of 2001.

This bill promotes improved nuclear plant efficiency, increases R&D on nuclear-related technologies, and recognizes nuclear energy’s contributions to our nation’s clean air.

Senator Bingaman is also an important ally in helping the industry address one of the biggest challenges to our success in the future—a shortage of qualified personnel—through sponsoring legislation that seeks to reverse the decline in nuclear scientists and engineers in the country. On the House side, Congresswoman Judy Biggert of Illinois has introduced companion legislation, which is part of the bill just passed in the House.

As I said, it is our record of achievement that has generated the high levels of support the industry currently enjoys. It is clear that we are poised on the brink of an exciting and dynamic future.

But it is up to us to create that future.

And that brings me to the second part of my remarks: our plan for the future.

In addition to all the positive attention, another important factor propelling nuclear energy to the forefront of the national dialogue on energy is the unprecedented growth in the demand for electricity. That creates significant challenges but great opportunity.

The statistical arm of the Energy Department, the Energy Information Administration, projects that the nation will need 393,000 megawatts of new generation capacity within 20 years, if demand grows at about 1.8 percent annually.

However, actual growth in demand over the past decade has surpassed that estimate, averaging about 2.2 percent a year. And if demand grows by 2.5 percent, we will need a total of 564,000 MW of new generation capacity.

As the nation’s only expandable source of emission-free, baseload electricity, nuclear energy must play a critical role in our nation’s energy future.

This fact alone demands that the nuclear energy industry set out upon a new and dynamic vision of the future. We call that plan Vision 2020 , a set of specific and ambitious goals that we plan to achieve by the year 2020.

The centerpiece of our vision is dramatic. Between today and 2020, we plan to add 50,000 megawatts of new nuclear generating capacity to the nation’s electricity grid.

Let me explain what that number means.

First of all, it means enough new electricity for about 30 million people.

Second, it means a 50 percent increase in nuclear generation from our 100,000 megawatts of current generation.

And in environmental terms, 50,000 megawatts of new nuclear capacity—combined with anticipated capacity factor and efficiency gains—means that the nation will retain its 30 percent share of emission-free generation.

As part of our Vision 2020 goals, we expect the industry to continue to pursue upgrades in plant facilities and achieve improvements in efficiency. Those improvements should add 10,000 MW of electricity generating capacity on top of our 50,000 MW goal for new nuclear power plants.

Another vital element of Vision 2020 is that within the next two decades “Policymakers and the public will be demanding further increases in the share of sustainable nuclear energy to satisfy economic growth and environmental objectives.”

We expect people to demand an increased role for nuclear energy, because adequate electricity supply for growing the economy and for environmental stewardship must go hand-in-hand. An economy that increasingly relies on computers and electro-technology simply must have an ample supply of reliable electricity to power those devices.

But at the same time, electricity generation cannot be increased at the expense of our environment. And nuclear energy has the smallest total environmental impact of any electricity generating source, whether we look at land use, emission of pollutants, CO2 or waste volume.

Because of the minimal environmental impact of nuclear energy facilities, policymakers and the public are increasingly embracing the fundamental truth that nuclear energy is a sustainable and environmentally responsible energy source.

When you combine the industry’s outstanding safety and performance record with the economic and environmental realities our nation faces, the foundation is laid for the growing grassroots call for expanding America’s nuclear energy generating capacity.

The third important element of Vision 2020 is that “Nuclear technologies are widely used in medicine, food safety, water management and to produce complementary clean fuels such as hydrogen.”

In many cases, nuclear technologies are already widely used. It is often just a matter of letting people know about the benefits we bring to their everyday lives.

Many of you know about the more than 10 million diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures performed each year in the United States that save lives and improve the quality of medical care.

The potential for food irradiation is virtually boundless in combating food-borne pathogens.

Beyond these benefits of nuclear technologies, what is less well appreciated is nuclear energy’s potentially wide-scale role in purifying contaminated water supplies and desalinating seawater.

As the planet’s population grows from its current level of 6 billion to an estimated 10 billion by 2050, our need for safe and reliable water supplies will also skyrocket.

Nuclear energy could play a pivotal role across the globe in supporting that growing population with the water and electricity needed to sustain life and promote economic development.

Clean, alternative fuels like hydrogen could also help to fuel the needs of an expanding population. But producing hydrogen requires significant amounts of energy, and unless the hydrogen is produced with energy from an equally clean fuel source—like nuclear—the emission gains from using hydrogen are largely negated.

As nuclear energy gains in prominence, so too will the public’s appreciation of these important aspects of our industry, particularly as we in the industry work harder than ever to get the word out to people.

The ambitious goals we have set out in Vision 2020 are supported by six strategic objectives, and we are working closely with the American Nuclear Society, the Department of Energy and others to chart the course needed to achieve them.

First, we want to achieve a prominent recognition of nuclear energy as an essential part of our nation’s energy and environmental policies. As I said earlier, one of the most important ways we can do that is to highlight our industry’s outstanding contributions to keeping America’s air clean.

Second, we will pursue even safer plant operations that are supported by predictable regulatory processes. Our thanks go to Chairman Meserve for the leadership he has provided in guiding the NRC in this new era of regulatory oversight.

Yet much work remains to be done. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 authorized a new way of licensing new nuclear power plants. Thanks to advances under the act, we already have three pre-certified advanced reactor designs, although the challenge remains to bring these certified designs to market in the United States.

Yet some of these new processes are untested. 10 CFR Part 52 allows for a combined construction permit and operating license. And companies have the option of applying for an early site permit, allowing them to bank sites in advance—irrespective of the actual decision to order a new plant. These processes are vastly more efficient than the 1960s-vintage approach that was used to license today’s nuclear plants. We need to test those processes and develop confidence in them in order to attract buyers and investment dollars.

Third, we want improved reliability and competitiveness of the entire nuclear fuel cycle. We need to have a competitive, long-term, reliable fuel supply market. We need a solution to the used nuclear fuel issue. The industry already has an impeccable record in managing its used fuel, and we want to make that record even better.

Perhaps the most important way to make that happen is for the federal government to live up to its statutory responsibility to designate a geologic repository for used fuel.

We are on track to achieve a site for a used fuel repository after nearly two decades of study. The science on the Yucca Mountain, Nevada site is as extensive as it is sound. In fact, Yucca Mountain may be the most studied place in the Universe.

More importantly, the process is in motion to reach a presidential decision on a used fuel repository late this year. The Department of Energy has just released four key reports on the site. Those reports will be an essential component of the energy secretary’s final recommendation to the president on Yucca Mountain’s suitability. But it will take the collective efforts of us all as well as great political determination by this Administration to make it happen.

Fourth, we want to maximize the value of nuclear assets in the marketplace. You have already heard that investor sentiment about nuclear power plants is high, and we want to capitalize—no pun intended—on that sentiment with any new nuclear plants that may be ordered in the future.

NEI has two executive task forces—the New Plant Issues Task Force and the Early Site Permitting Task Force—in place to consider the issues involved in developing and building new plants, including looking at the business conditions and the refined regulatory processes that I’ve already mentioned.

Even as business conditions become ripe for new plant construction, we must pay close attention to researching and developing new reactor designs. Our goal in doing so is simple: to stabilize the approval process through the use of certified designs for new plants. And apart from those designs already certified, there are exciting new developments exploring the feasibility of other new designs, such as the pebble bed modular reactor and the AP-1000.

Fifth, we expect further increases in public and policymaker support for nuclear energy and associated technologies, which I discussed earlier.

And sixth, the nuclear energy industry must address our future infrastructure and personnel needs. If we do not, Vision 2020 will remain a vision, because we will not have sufficient and qualified personnel to make it a reality.

And this brings me to the greatest challenge our industry faces … building the leaders of tomorrow.

I’m not here to dwell on the aging workforce issues. We’ve heard the statistics. I don’t need to recount how much of today’s workforce is expected to retire in the next five years. We know the challenges before us.

In short, we need to start today to develop the leaders of tomorrow—the pool of talented people who will design, license, build and operate the nuclear power plants that will meet this nation’s power needs throughout the 21st century.

Vision 2020 provides a long-term vision for our industry as a whole, and it is absolutely critical for us to take a long-term view in leadership development as well.

We need to begin thinking about not only where the next generation of CEOs and CNOs will come from, but who will make up the new generation of technicians, operators, maintenance supervisors and engineering directors.

Developing the industry’s future leaders is a big challenge for us—perhaps the biggest obstacle in the drive to turn Vision 2020 into Reality 2020.

And the challenge we face is complicated by the fact that every university focus group we conducted last year associated nuclear energy with a well-known, bumbling cartoon character … Homer Simpson.

However, students who are already pursuing careers in nuclear engineering revealed an important point to us. They said their peers recognized them as part of an elite group … and that there was a lot of prestige associated with the nuclear field.

One of the best ways to attract and retain top-notch young people into our field is to provide networking and professional development opportunities. And in May, we took a big step in that direction, as an exciting new organization held its first national conference … North-America Young Generation in Nuclear.

I pride myself in being an honorary member of the North American Young Generation in Nuclear. I sought a regular membership, but they told me that membership is limited to the 35-and-under crowd. I told them that I had just celebrated the 24th anniversary of my 35th birthday—that’s 15 Celsius, by the way—but they told me that just did not qualify for regular membership.

All kidding aside, my sense is that, while there is still a lot of work to do to develop tomorrow’s leaders in the industry, the renaissance this industry is experiencing is beginning to take hold among the next generation. Take, for example, reports by Purdue University.

Purdue indicates that the number of sophomores this year declaring themselves nuclear engineering majors has increased three-fold over last year.

It is up to all of us to see that Purdue’s successes are replicated across the country.

There are a host of efforts focusing on the workforce issue, and I want to applaud those efforts … including the remarkable success of ANS student chapters … ANS’ own staffing task force … and ANS’ outreach to students and educators.

And the Department of Energy—through its Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee—has provided valuable insights into the needs of the university programs.

We at NEI also have a number of initiatives to address the overall staffing pipeline issue.

This March, NEI kicked off this effort with a widely-attended workshop that brought leaders in academia and industry together to begin sharing ideas about recruiting and retaining the best and the brightest into nuclear-related fields.

Out of this workshop came a range of good practices for strengthening recruiting programs … new approaches to increase diversity … programs to get experienced company technical staff into the engineering classroom … programs to engage the CEO directly in recruiting activities … and programs to enhance the co-op experience.

NEI has established a new Staffing and Recruiting Task Force, which met for the first time in June. The task force includes a strong array of leadership from ANS, DOE, academia … and industry.

One of the biggest tasks currently underway is an industry wide survey of utilities, suppliers, NRC, DOE, our national labs and others. This survey is aimed at providing useful and accurate staffing information for the next decade. And this survey is not limited to the engineering profession … it also examines needs in the technician and skilled craft areas.

The follow-on activity is to perform a gap analysis to assess where the real needs are.

Dave Modeen heads up this effort, and he is here, so please see Dave for more information.


Conclusion — Call to Action for the Industry
The point I want to leave you with, though, is that effectively dealing with the development of future generations of leaders in the nuclear industry isn’t all about task forces and conferences. It’s about bringing the ship into port.

It’s about engaging the minds of young people. It’s about giving them insights into our industry … showing them that we offer exciting projects that use cutting-edge technologies to improve people’s lives … and the environment. And that we are in this business for the long term—60 years for most of our plants.

Beyond that, it’s about providing mentors and role models. And it’s about recruiting and retaining the nation’s best and brightest into our industry to ensure our long-term viability.

These are very exciting times for the nuclear energy industry. Because there is so much promise before us … in nuclear energy’s current renaissance … and in the activities described here today to prepare this vibrant industry for tomorrow. We have started the process of turning Vision 2020 into a reality.

But we cannot do it alone. An effort this ambitious requires the very best that each of us has to offer.

From industry to academia, from undergraduates to full professors, from co-op students to CEOs, achieving Vision 2020 requires each of us to take our place on the ship and have an active hand in bringing it safely into port.

I know that the commitment and energy of all of you here today will be essential to our industry’s success.

So join me on this journey. The nuclear energy industry’s ship certainly has weathered the storms over the years, but now it is time for us to bring it in.

Thank you.