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Now Comes the Hard Part: ANS Oblique Praise for the Biden Administration.
I am not a member of the American Nuclear Society although I have put myself on their mailing list.
(If I had my life to do over again, I would be a nuclear engineer, since I now regard it as the most important engineering job one can take on.)
I have never attended an ANS meeting, although my son has, having been a speaker at one.
Here's an invitation to the 2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
The text of the invitation tells us where we are as a country with embracing nuclear energy to save what is left to save and restore that which can be restored:
Now Comes the Hard Part
The excitement over nuclear technology has reached new heights. Not since the 60s have the prevailing winds been so strong at our backs.
A good set of policies driven by historic bipartisan support in Washington and increased interest at the state level. Long term electricity demand growth trends, propelled by AI/data centers and the re-shoring of domestic manufacturing, are real and increasingly appear durable.
Nuclear has finally reached the high ground. The hardest part of the journey, however, still lies ahead.
The industry faces a set of steep challenges as it moves from conceptual designs to detailed engineering, and from First of a Kind (FOAK) to Nth of a Kind (NOAK) costs, while navigating the NRC licensing process, new financing models, fuel availability and waste management issues, and the need for a rapidly growing nuclear workforce.
No challenge is insurmountable, but they will require the collective commitment of the entire U.S. nuclear enterprise—developers, suppliers, national labs, universities, investors, off-takers, high school science teachers—to succeed. Most of all, it will require the knowledge, experience, creativity and fortitude of every man and woman who in some way devote themselves to harnessing the power of the atom.
Kicking off barely two weeks after an historic election, this year’s ANS Winter Conference promises to be a unique opportunity to take stock of the hard technical challenges ahead and see the paths to success. Join us as we roll up our sleeves and get to the hard part.
The excitement over nuclear technology has reached new heights. Not since the 60s have the prevailing winds been so strong at our backs.
A good set of policies driven by historic bipartisan support in Washington and increased interest at the state level. Long term electricity demand growth trends, propelled by AI/data centers and the re-shoring of domestic manufacturing, are real and increasingly appear durable.
Nuclear has finally reached the high ground. The hardest part of the journey, however, still lies ahead.
The industry faces a set of steep challenges as it moves from conceptual designs to detailed engineering, and from First of a Kind (FOAK) to Nth of a Kind (NOAK) costs, while navigating the NRC licensing process, new financing models, fuel availability and waste management issues, and the need for a rapidly growing nuclear workforce.
No challenge is insurmountable, but they will require the collective commitment of the entire U.S. nuclear enterprise—developers, suppliers, national labs, universities, investors, off-takers, high school science teachers—to succeed. Most of all, it will require the knowledge, experience, creativity and fortitude of every man and woman who in some way devote themselves to harnessing the power of the atom.
Kicking off barely two weeks after an historic election, this year’s ANS Winter Conference promises to be a unique opportunity to take stock of the hard technical challenges ahead and see the paths to success. Join us as we roll up our sleeves and get to the hard part.
In half a century, no administration, even Obama's which kicked off the Vogtle Reactors, has done as much to restore nuclear's critical role in the United States to secure the future of humanity and the planet than the Biden Administration. I see the quoted invite as an oblique acknowledgement of this little noted but extremely important success that Joe Biden has brought forth to our country.
The challenges stated are very real, but they are, in my view, our last best hope, and as long as I live I will be grateful to Joe Biden in recognizing this and more importantly, doing something about it.