ANS webinar looks to the nuclear future of South Carolina
A recent webinar hosted by the American Nuclear Society featured leading experts in South Carolina’s nuclear sector, who discussed how the state will leverage its resources, history, and experience to become a frontrunner in new development. Hosted by ANS Executive Director/CEO Craig Piercy, it offered perspectives from the utility, commercial, and academic worlds.
“The Future of Nuclear in South Carolina” marks the second installment in a series of ANS webinars that is going state by state, exploring how each “is considering nuclear technology as a tool to strengthen their energy security and economic competitiveness,” as Piercy put it at the start of the webinar. The first webinar focused on Texas.
A unique landscape: After brief introductions, Piercy turned to Nicole Flippin, senior vice president of nuclear operations at Duke Energy, to ask for an overview of what sets the state apart from the rest of the U.S. in terms of its nuclear sector. In response, Flippin said that South Carolina is one of the most nuclear powered states, generating more than one-half of its electricity from nuclear, compared with a national generation level that is closer to 20 percent. The state is also home to the Savannah River Site, a Westinghouse fuel fabrication facility, and seven commercial power reactors.
Educational opportunities: Beyond industry, the webinar also looked at the state of nuclear education in South Carolina, as panelist Travis Knight provided an overview of how the state is developing its opportunities for the next generation of nuclear professionals. Knight is a professor in and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the director of the Nuclear Engineering Program at the University of South Carolina. He said that nuclear has an $11 billion economic impact in the state, which “is something that doesn’t go unnoticed by students and parents.” That economic impact, Knight explained, translates to 42,000 jobs—something keenly important and encouraging to students planning their careers.
Aside from the university’s graduate program in nuclear engineering, Knight also spoke to the value provided by the undergraduate-level minor that is also offered. It “is very important to the industry,” he explained, “because mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, others having that nuclear knowledge really gives them a leg up when they enter the industry. Nuclear is a very interdisciplinary field.”
Why South Carolina? Piercy then turned to Joe Klecha, chief nuclear officer at The Nuclear Company, with a simple question: Why did the company choose the state as its base of operations?
Klecha responded, “We see South Carolina as the leader in the nuclear industry. Not only have they been in the past but they will continue to be in the future.” He explained that the state legislature is committed to bolstering the nuclear industry and that Gov. Henry Dargan McMaster intends to make South Carolina the epicenter of the nuclear resurgence in the United States.
Go deeper: To hear more from each panelist on the nuclear present and future of South Carolina, watch the full webinar here.
