Nuclear Matters was excited to join last week's “Advanced Nuclear Summit and Showcase,” hosted by Third Way in Washington, DC. Opening remarks from Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) were bookended by closing statements from Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) that convincingly demonstrated bipartisan support for nuclear and nuclear innovation in the United States.
The morning consisted of three panel discussions, all of which included Leadership Council member Carol M. Browner. Across the morning’s panels, Browner served as one of five permanent panelists, along with Undersecretary of Energy Dr. Lynn Orr, Southern Nuclear Operating Company CEO Stephen Kuczynski, NEI COO Maria Korsnick and Idaho National Lab Director Dr. Mark Peters.
These five permanent panelists were joined by a variety of industry leaders, academics, policy advocates and engineers who offered a variety of perspectives on the promise of advanced nuclear technologies and the challenges to their implementation.
The carbon-free potential of advanced nuclear, the event argued, would be undercut if the current fleet of reactors were diminished. Browner specifically provided an environmental and administrative perspective on the importance of the current nuclear energy fleet, a sentiment that met a chorus of approval by the event’s panelists. She argued that the current nuclear fleet serves as a bridge to the promise offered by advanced nuclear technology.
Some 236 people attended the event, including representatives from the nuclear industry, environmental organizations, philanthropies and venture capital, as well as Administration and Congressional staff. The event was live streamed, and the page hosting the stream had over 1,200 unique page views the day of the summit.
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A full recording of the event can be found here.
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You can view the event’s agenda here. A full list of speakers and their biographies is available here.
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Learn about the benefits of existing nuclear plants here.