https://www.nei.org/news/2023/where-in-the-world-is-nei-paducah-kentucky Read more about a trip last month from NEI's very own Kati Austgen, the senior project
manager, new reactors. ✈ Where was I?Paducah, Kentucky, for Nuclear Development Forum: Building Capacity and Opportunity, hosted by Energy Communities Alliance ✍ What was going on? Communities interested in nuclear development opportunities gathered to learn and share their experiences/best practices. NEI co-presented a “Nuclear 101” session on the first day and later facilitated a “Listening Lunch” for utilities and developers to hear directly from communities about their perspectives on new nuclear development projects. ⚡ Lightning Round! Favorite meal: Three Little Pigs slider—you can find something similar at Artisan Kitchen! Notable quote or highlight: Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper shared a quote from Roman philosopher, Seneca, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Dr. Katy Huff, DOE assistant secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy, built on this by noting that, as a Stoic, Seneca advocated for “virtue through action,” and action is exactly what is being pursued to deploy new nuclear energy. Something you learned: Paducah is in the Four Rivers region of Kentucky, named for the confluence of the Tennessee, Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers. Kentucky is also a major industrial manufacturing and freight transportation hub, relying on significant amounts of reliable energy.
The Energy Communities Alliance Nuclear Development Forum began Wednesday in Paducah and included a “Nuclear 101” session on the science, developing technology, supply chain and federal support of nuclear energy.
Community growth, engagement and workforce development are key topics for many at the Energy Communities Alliance nuclear conference in Paducah this week.
A “Nuclear 101” presentation Wednesday by the Nuclear Innovation Alliance and Nuclear Energy Institute reviewed the science of nuclear energy itself before discussing industrial development and federal support.
“A question in thinking about the next generation is what other kinds of (nuclear) technology we can use,” said Dr. Patrick White, project manager of the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, a nonprofit think tank working toward advanced nuclear power to mitigate climate change.
The U.S. has 93 operating nuclear plants, 62 pressurized water reactors and 31 boiling water reactors. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, they generate some 20% of the nation’s electricity.
“These operators have worked successfully in the U.S., but there are inherent limitations,” White said. “How hot they can operate, safety … we have a lot of backups, but it’s still something communities have to think about. The idea is changing a system you keep safe to something inherently safe.”
There are over 60 such technologies being developed in the private sector.
“We’re starting to see demonstration and deployment,” White said, showing a timeline that would see commercial deployment for new reactors in the 2040s. “We’re starting to see, from 2025 to 2030, developers really starting to demonstrate these commercial reactors.”
Nuclear fusion, he said, is further off: “Fusing (atomic nuclei) back together requires very specific conditions.”
This year has seen over 100 nuclear energy bills filed. Kentucky has no active nuclear reactors or deployment projects, but it’s taking new steps. Senate Joint Resolution 79, passed last March, establishes a development working group to court nuclear industry.
“From the 70 years we’ve been producing such energy in the U.S., all the fuel removed from those reactors could be stacked on a football field,” said Kati Austgen, senior project manager for new reactors at the Nuclear Energy Institute, a policy organization for the nuclear tech industry. “We know where it all is, whether in pools or dry cask storage or still in reactors today.”
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill allotted $6 billion for a nuclear credit program. Last year’s Inflation Reduction Act introduced a production tax credit for operating plants up to $15 per megawatt hour.
“We didn’t recognize the full value of our nuclear facilities in providing carbon-free energy,” Austgen said. “Many were just competing on the open market; whoever could produce energy for the lowest cost got the bid. Now, they’re being recognized in the same playing field as other clean generation technology. If you’re producing carbon-free energy, you can have a tax credit.”
In a poll on use cases, most attendees said electricity production interested them the most.
A combustion reaction, like a log burning, is about four electron volts. Nuclear fusion is 17.6 million eV, and nuclear fission 200 million eV.
“We can think about a variety of outputs — clean electricity, hydrogen processing, industrial applications — and with those outputs, a wide variety of uses,” she said.
The session followed a tour of the gaseous diffusion plant earlier that day.
Today begins with a welcome from state officials, including Governor Andy Beshear, Senator Danny Carroll and Energy & Environment Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman.
The forum runs through Friday and came about from the Paducah Chamber of Commerce’s annual DC trip last September, where a meeting with the Energy Communities Alliance led to the decision.
The conference is also coordinated by the DOE, Kentucky Office of Energy Policy, American Nuclear Society, McCracken County, City of Paducah and Paducah Area Community Reuse Organization.
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