The Texas Longhorn, Big Tex, and nuclear energy. This year, they were all at the State Fair of Texas.
NEI joined Nuclear Matters and the Texas Nuclear Alliance to bring conversations on nuclear energy and its benefits to the State Fair. Texas is home to four operating reactors, three research reactors, and more than 80 nuclear energy companies. But like everything in Texas, the aspirations are even bigger—37 SMRs, 148,000 jobs in the state, and over 700 reactors manufactured in Texas...all by the 2050s.
In the meantime, fair visitors got to experience nuclear energy through twists on typical midway activities:
- A soda can toss, because all the nuclear fuel it takes to power your entire life can fit inside a soda can.
- A LEGO table for the young (and young-at-heart) to try out their reactor designs.
- A nuclear “plant” farm stand featuring produce grown within 50 miles of a nuclear plant.
An ask an expert booth where fairgoers could ask any questions and learn more about nuclear energy
Prizes including personal fans, water bottles, can coolers, and more.
The highlight was the opportunity to discuss nuclear energy with fairgoers. A lot of Texans mentioned growing energy demand in the state and nationwide, and they were excited to learn that nuclear energy can operate 24/7/365 as a complement to wind and solar. And hearing that nuclear can keep utility bills low by lowering the overall cost of the electricity system was icing on the cake.
Some visitors hadn’t heard a lot about nuclear energy and were surprised to learn that nuclear energy produces 10% of Texas’ power and about 20% of the state’s clean electricity. While some of these folks knew about large nuclear, the research reactors at Texas A&M, the University of Texas, and Abilene Christian University were new to them.
Innovation was also a big topic of discussion. The future of nuclear comes in lots of sizes, and fair attendees were excited to find out about the small and large reactors under construction, including X-Energy’s ingenuity in designing reactors to support Dow Chemical, and Oklo’s Groves facility. The spirit of competition was strong too—some knew about nuclear construction in China and wanted the U.S. to continue as the world’s nuclear energy leader.
And we left feeling very happy about the future of the nuclear workforce. Lots of fairgoers knew someone working at the Comanche Peak plant 85 miles away. And students from elementary school to college told us about their interest in nuclear energy, all types of engineering, and environmental studies. Big kudos to all those doing extra credit by watching nuclear energy documentaries and reading Wikipedia articles!
Like the Lone Star, it’s clear that the future of nuclear energy in Texas is shining bright and that nuclear energy can bring Texas reliable energy, clean air, a strong economy, and great jobs.
