NuScale Power Corporation’s latest Energy Exploration (E2) Center has opened at South Carolina State University, in Orangeburg. E2 Centers are designed to provide visitors with hands-on experiences in simulated scenarios of operations at nuclear power plants. NuScale has established 10 such centers around the world. The company officially presented the fully installed E2 Center to SC State on May 21, after a collaborative setup and training process was completed.

On December 1, 2021, the Department of Energy issued a request for information (RFI) asking for public feedback on using consent-based siting to identify sites for the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. The department received more than 220 comments in response, and on September 15, 2022, the DOE released a report summarizing and analyzing those responses. That 57-page report, Consent-Based Siting: Request for Information Comment Summary and Analysis, will be followed by an updated consent-based siting process document.

The DOE’s consent-based siting initiative is being led through the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. To learn more about that initiative and the consent-based siting process, Radwaste Solutions spoke with the DOE’s Kim Petry, acting associate deputy assistant secretary, Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition; Erica Bickford, acting office director, Integrated Waste Management; and Natalia Saraeva, team lead, Consent-Based Siting.