Advocating for Nuclear with the NESDANS Nuclear CafeApril 1, 2019, 7:14PM|Hannah GardinerSometimes it feels like we're fighting an uphill battle for nuclear energy - and perhaps we are.Indeed, because an April 2018 survey by Pew Research found that 54% of Americans oppose building new nuclear reactors despite a majority of U.S. adults reporting that climate change affects their local area. And if you're reading this, I probably don't have to tell you that nuclear power emits almost no carbon, aids in environmental and biodiversity conservation, provides high-paying jobs for a wide array of fields and education levels, and keeps running regardless of what the weather outside is like.Despite all of this, it feels like nuclear plants are shutting down faster than HBO can produce seasons of Game of Thrones.However, there is still hope for the future of nuclear. For example, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendment Act of 2018 recently passed the House, paving a way forward to finally license Yucca Mountain 31 years after Congress designated it to be the official deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel in the U.S. It's about time, considering that the 1986 designation of Yucca Mountain as our official spent fuel repository site is now 33 years old.Furthermore, there are some interesting legislative battles being waged on the state and local. Both New York and Illinois have enacted a version of a Zero Emissions Credit (ZEC), subsidizing their nuclear power plants, averting further premature closures. Wisconsin and Kentucky recently lifted statewide moratoriums on nuclear power plant construction in 2016 and 2017, respectively.However, there are more federal, state, and local level battles to win, but the question is how do we win them? What can we do to ensure the future success of our industry? These questions are especially poignant for students who wish to have nuclear careers many years from now. Students are answering the call of these questions for the sake of employment, the planet, and their futures, through legislative advocacy.The premier student legislative advocacy organization is the Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation (NESD). NESD was formed in 1994 in response to the legislature's attempt to cut off funding to university reactor programs. Five students from around the country got together to visit their lawmakers in D.C. and successfully advocated for the reinstatement of university reactor program funding. A completely student-organized delegation has gone back every year since then to advocate for nuclear energy, policy, education, and research, growing to about 16 students every year.The yearly delegation convenes in D.C. to draft a policy statement regarding relevant nuclear issues. This statement is then used as a talking point in individual meetings with congressmen and women. In the past few years alone, we have successfully advocated for bills such as the DOE Research and Innovation Act, the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, and the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act - all of which have since been signed into law.Although the main purpose of NESD is nuclear advocacy, students benefit from this program in a variety of ways. It is chance to learn about how our government works, practice our science communication skills, as well as network with professionals in the nuclear energy related organizations across the legislative landscape (e.g. ANS, NEI, NRC, DOE, and think tanks). Gaining knowledge on how each of these organizations affects nuclear issues is invaluable in promoting ANS's goal of advancing nuclear technology to benefit society. NESD enriches the technical foundation that students are already building with a science or engineering degree, which allows them to be a more valuable resource for the organization in which they ultimately work.Applications for the 2019 Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation are open until April 12. If you have any questions about NESD or would like to learn more, feel free to email me at hgardiner282@gmail.com or check out the website.Please feel free to leave a constructive comment for the author.Tags:american nuclear societyansauthorscongressdc perspectivedepartment of energydoeeconomic benefits of nuclearhannah gardinerneinesdnrcnuclear engineering student delegationnuclear wastepew researchpublic policyreactorsu.s. governmentuniversity of floridayucca mountainzeczero emissions creditShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
The year in review 2020: Waste ManagementHere is a look back at the top stories of 2020 from our Waste Management section in Newswire and Nuclear News magazine. Remember to check back to Newswire soon for more top stories from 2020.Waste Management sectionFirst-ever cleanup of uranium enrichment plant celebrated at Oak Ridge: The completion of the decades-long effort to clean up the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant was celebrated on October 13, with Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette joining U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, and other state and community leaders at the East Tennessee Technology Park, where the uranium enrichment complex once stood. Read more.Go to Article
Former NRC chairs issue vaccine timeline recommendation to CDCFive former chairmen of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission—Stephen Burns, Allison Macfarlane, Nils Diaz, Richard Meserve, and Dale Klein—signed a letter to José Romero, Arkansas health secretary and chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) immunization advisory committee, requesting that the advisory committee update its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine allocation guidance for the energy workforce (including nuclear energy workers).Currently, the CDC has four phases for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Those phases are numbered:1a (the current phase), reserved for healthcare workers and those living in long-term care facilities;1b, reserved for people 75 years and older and frontline essential workers;1c, reserved for persons 65 to 74 years old, those aged 16 to 64 who have high-risk medical conditions, and other categories of essential workers (this includes energy workers); and2, for everyone else that was not named in the previous three phases aged 16 to 64.Go to Article
DOE looks to dispose of Savannah River process equipment as LLWThe Department of Energy is considering disposing of contaminated process equipment from its Savannah River Site (SRS) at a commercial low-level waste facility using its recent interpretation of the statutory term “high-level radioactive waste,” which classifies waste generated from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel based on its radiological content rather than its origin.Go to Article
Trump leaves space nuclear policy executive order for Biden teamA hot fire test of the core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi was not completed as planned. The SLS is the vehicle meant to propel a crewed mission to the moon in 2024. Source: NASA TelevisionAmong the executive orders President Trump issued during his last weeks in office was “Promoting Small Modular Reactors for National Defense and Space Exploration,” which builds on the Space Policy Directives published during his term. The order, issued on January 12, calls for actions within the next six months by NASA and the Department of Defense (DOD), together with the Department of Energy and other federal entities. Whether the Biden administration will retain some, all, or none of the specific goals of the Trump administration’s space nuclear policy remains to be seen, but one thing is very clear: If deep space exploration remains a priority, nuclear-powered and -propelled spacecraft will be needed.The prospects for near-term deployment of nuclear propulsion and power systems in space improved during Trump’s presidency. However, Trump left office days after a hot fire test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket did not go as planned. The SLS rocket is meant to propel crewed missions to the moon in 2024 and to enable a series of long-duration lunar missions that could be powered by small lunar reactor installations. The test on January 16 of four engines that were supposed to fire for over eight minutes was automatically aborted after one minute, casting some doubt that a planned November 2021 Artemis I mission can go ahead on schedule.Go to Article
Slaybaugh named to lead Berkeley Lab’s Cyclotron RoadSlaybaughThe Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently named Rachel Slaybaugh, ANS member since 2003 and associate professor of nuclear engineering at the University of California–Berkeley, to lead the lab’s Cyclotron Road Division.Get to know her: Prior to coming to Berkeley, Slaybaugh served as a program director for the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), whose mission is to advance high-potential and high-impact energy technologies. From 2017 through 2020 at ARPA-E, Slaybaugh led programs supporting research in advanced nuclear fission reactors, agriculture technologies, and sensing and data analytics for four years.Go to Article
DOE lists five stories to watch in 2021Despite all the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. nuclear energy community pulled out some big wins in 2020, and this year could be even bigger, according to the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy.From deep space exploration on Mars to a historic new reactor coming online in Waynesboro, Ga., 2021 will be a record-breaking year for the industry—both good and potentially bad.Find the full details on the DOE-NE website.Go to Article
INL’s MARVEL could demonstrate remote operation on a micro scaleThe Department of Energy launched a 14-day public review and comment period on January 11 on a draft environmental assessment for a proposal to construct the Microreactor Applications Research Validation & EvaLuation (MARVEL) project microreactor inside Idaho National Laboratory’s Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) Facility.The basics: The MARVEL design is a sodium-potassium–cooled thermal microreactor fueled by uranium zirconium hydride fuel pins using high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU). It would be a 100-kWt reactor capable of generating about 20 kWe using Stirling engines over a core life of about two years.The DOE proposes to install the MARVEL microreactor in a concrete storage pit in the north high bay of the TREAT reactor building. Modifications to the building to accommodate MARVEL are anticipated to take five to seven months. Constructing, assembling, and performing preoperational testing are expected to take another two to three months prior to fuel loading.Go to Article
EPRI names Rita Baranwal as new VP of nuclear, CNOBaranwalThe Electric Power Research Institute today announced Rita Baranwal as its new vice president of nuclear energy and chief nuclear officer. Baranwal succeeds Neil Wilmshurst, who was promoted to senior vice president of energy system resources in November.Baranwal most recently served as the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for its Office of Nuclear Energy, where she managed the DOE's portfolio of nuclear research for existing and advanced reactors and new designs. Baranwal unexpectedly resigned from that position late last week.Go to Article
The year in review 2020: Research and ApplicationsHere is a look back at the top stories of 2020 from our Research and Applications section in Newswire and Nuclear News magazine. Remember to check back to Newswire soon for more top stories from 2020.Research and Applications sectionARDP picks divergent technologies in Natrium, Xe-100: Is nuclear’s future taking shape? The Department of Energy has put two reactor designs—TerraPower’s Natrium and X-energy’s Xe-100—on a fast track to commercialization, each with an initial $80 million in 50-50 cost-shared funds awarded through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. Read more.Go to Article
The year in review 2020: Power and OperationsHere is a look back at the top stories of 2020 from our Power and Operations section in Newswire and Nuclear News magazine. Remember to check back to Newswire soon for more top stories from 2020.Power and Operations section Defense Department invests in three microreactor designs: Three reactor developers got a boost on March 9 when they each were awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to design a reactor that can fit inside a standard shipping container for military deployment. Read more.Go to Article