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Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2026
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July 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NN Asks: Is the U.S. ready for nuclear construction to accelerate?
Craig Stover
Yes, but . . .
The United States is better positioned today for nuclear construction than it has been in decades. Some of that comes from the experience gained at Vogtle and V.C. Summer. I was part of the team that helped start the V.C. Summer project in 2008, and at that time we were trying to build a nuclear construction workforce from scratch. We learned a lot through that effort, and many of those lessons learned have since been studied, documented, and shared.
The nuclear industry is also benefiting from the wave of investment that started growing around 2020. Over the last five or six years, there has been a serious effort across the country to get ready for new nuclear builds. The U.S. government and the private sector are investing billions of dollars in new nuclear. Much of that work is happening before widespread commercial deployment contracts are signed. This is real, and we need to prepare.
Executive Session|Panel
Wednesday, June 15, 2022|10:15AM–12:00PM PDT|Pacific A
Session Chair:
Steve Nesbit
Session Organizer:
Andrew Coffman Smith (ANS)
In 2016 California made the political decision to prematurely shutter California's remaining nuclear power plant. Diablo Canyon's Units 1 and 2 are now slated for closure in 2024 and 2025 when their current operating licenses expire but, now, Gov. Gavin Newsom is reconsidering the move. This will be a paneled discussion on how Diablo Canyon fits into California's energy and climate strategies, as well as discuss the feasibility and the economic and environmental benefits and costs associated with California's dilemma on whether to keep the facility open beyond 2025 or prematurely close it. Along with discussing decarbonization, industrial process heat and desalination opportunities for Diablo Canyon, as outlined recently in a 2021 joint study by MIT and Stanford researchers, panelists will discuss how the future of Diablo Canyon is vital for California's clean energy security and in advancing the interests of labor, land conservation, and California's aboriginal tribal communities.
Dawn Ortiz-Legg
3rd District Supervisor for County of San Luis Obispo
Isabelle Boemeke
Nuclear energy influencer and founder of Isodope and Save Clean Energy
Heather Hoff
Mothers For Nuclear
Scott Lathrop
CEO of ytt Northern Chumash Nonprofit (yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini)
Gene Nelson
Government Liaison of Californians for Green Nuclear Power
Jacopo Buongiorno
TEPCO Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Director of Science
Hunter Stern
Assistant Business Manager, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 (IBEW 1245)
