I had the biggest grin on my face last Tuesday during Nuclear Innovation Week when Kemal Pasamehmetoglu, executive director of the versatile test reactor (VTR) at Idaho National Laboratory, detailed the project during a session. Ten years ago, in my first professional job at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, I worked on sodium-cooled fast reactor technology. DOE’s test reactor will utilize that same sodium-cooled fast reactor technology, optimized for the experimental capabilities to develop and test advanced reactor fuels and materials. VTR will be critical to achieving U.S. leadership in the deployment of advanced reactor designs worldwide.
After the dust settled from the week of events, it hit me: I don’t think I’ve been this excited about the future prospects of nuclear energy in a long time!
To deploy the next generation of reactor technologies though, it will take more than technology development. While the Nuclear R&D Summit and the Deployment Forum explored the progress in the research and development efforts, we also looked at how the industry will need to work with community leaders to build local support and customers to buy and site these technologies. Gaining support also means that policymakers will need to ensure that nuclear plants are valued for the reliability and carbon-free electricity they provide.
There is increasingly broad recognition of the role of nuclear energy in a decarbonized world. We see that in the shifting attitudes towards nuclear from environmentalist groups and businesses. Like NEI President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Korsnick said: “The future we need can’t happen without nuclear.” It is our industry’s innovation that is essential to building a clean energy future.
According to Mayor Rebecca Casper from the city of Idaho Falls, a panelist on our community and customer engagement panel last week, nuclear energy’s unique attributes are attractive when she is thinking about the future of carbon-free electricity grid for her city. Another community leader, Jesabel Rivera from the Nuclear Alternative Project, talked about her dream of seeing a small modular reactor power hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico, where her family and friends back home want a reliable and resilient energy source they can depend on.
Ten years ago I helped design an advanced reactor technology. Ten years from now, I will see it in action. Nuclear innovation is real and it is happening now. Nuclear Innovation Week was a true reminder of my past, present and the future.
