Third Way / Idaho National Laboratory to host Summit on the Future of Nuclear Energy
The event will bring together government, private sector leaders including Energy Secretary, White House, NRC Chair, Members of Congress, and Industry CEOs,
Update 12/08/10:
Washington tries to think about nuclear energy
Washington, DC – Third Way and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on 12/07/10 will host the New Millennium Nuclear Energy Summit, a bipartisan forum on the future of nuclear energy in the United States.
The event will feature
•Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy
•Carol Browner, White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy director
•John Grossenbacher, Idaho National Laboratory director
•Gregory Jaczko, Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman
•Marvin Fertel, Nuclear Energy Institute president and CEO
•Peter Bradford, Union of Concerned Scientists vice-chair of the board
•John Krenicki, GE vice chairman, president and CEO of GE Energy
•Doug May, Dow Chemical vice president of Energy & Climate Change
Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and George Voinovich (R-OH) are honorary co-chairs of the event.
Purpose of the event
Despite the deep divisions in Washington over energy issues, many on both sides agree that nuclear energy must play a role in the nation’s energy and economic future.
The summit will provide a forum to start developing broader consensus on the future of nuclear energy in the United States and determining the steps needed to revive the nation’s nuclear energy industry.
WHEN: Tuesday, December 7, 2010
TIME: 8:45 am – 11:30 am EDT
WHERE: Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
Knight Conference Center, 7th floor (map)
Media: A transcript of the proceedings will be available Tuesday afternoon 12/7 at the Idaho lab website.
For credentials, please contact Jessica McCreight (202) 464-6959 / email to: JMccreight@skdknick.com
Blogger comment
Here’s a short list of questions I’d ask if I was at the press table.
What is it that got the White House to wake up and smell the coffee on nuclear energy? Why now?- Is the loss of the U.S. global technological leadership a compelling issue, e.g., relative to China, or is this just a hunt for short-term domestic consensus on energy policy?
- How can American firms, including fabrication and supply chain manufacturers, get back in the global market?
- What will the meeting do to address the issue of spent nuclear fuel? Will the Obama administration support development of a federal corporation, modeled after TVA, to handle it?
- Where is the White House on loan guarantees for merchant plants now that Constellation has bailed from Calvert Cliffs? What can the government do beyond loan guarantees to help reactor projects get competitive financing?
- How will the government assure the business community congressional and federal agency commitments to nuclear energy won’t fall apart just as plants are starting to be built in 2012-2015?
What will the government do to encourage the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) including changing the NRC cost recovery rule? - How will the administration respond to environmental and nonproliferation groups and their posture that the safest nuclear reactor is one that is never built?
What questions would you ask if you were at the press table?
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1 comment:
The AP1000 is a LMR (Large Modular Reactor). The submodules are made in a Shaw factory. The first-of-a-kind costs will be incurred by the Georgia and South Carolina builds. The way to really reduce the cost of AP1000 reactors would be to commit to 10 more so the module design and the standardized design benefits could be realized. How could such a commitment ever be made in the United States?
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