Advanced Nuclear Summit & Showcase

On January 27, 2016, Third Way and the Idaho National Laboratory partnered with Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to host a first-of-its-kind Advanced Nuclear Summit and Showcase in Washington, D.C.

Demonstrating the bipartisan support for advancing nuclear innovation in the United States, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, gave opening remarks, and Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) provided closing remarks for the Nuclear Summit attendees. The morning consisted of three panel discussions:

• Panel 1: Let’s Get Real: When can we expect commercial advanced reactors?
• Panel 2: Check, Please: Are private investors prepared to pick up the nuclear innovation tab?
• Panel 3: Putting Uncle Sam to Work: What is the government’s role in advanced nuclear development?

Read the full agenda, as well as biographies of the featured speakers and distinguished panelists.

In North America, 48 companies, backed by more than $1.6 billion in private capital, are developing plans for advanced nuclear reactors. The influx of ideas and investment into the advanced nuclear industry has made it a burgeoning part of the clean energy sector. The Advanced Nuclear Summit and Showcase built upon the conversations sparked by the White House Summit on Nuclear Energy and the Nuclear Innovation Workshops sponsored by the Idaho National Laboratory.

Along with national policymakers and influencers, the Summit demonstrated that there is a robust advanced nuclear sector being developed by private companies and research institutions, and that government has a vital role to play in bringing the promise of the sector to reality.

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Want to learn more about the advanced nuclear industry?

Check out our latest reports and infographics:

• E-BINDER: Everything You Need to Know About America's Advanced Nuclear Resurgence - We've pulled together a quick and easy backgrounder, including key facts about the advanced nuclear industry in the United States, explainers about the financial and regulatory obstacles for the newest generation of advanced reactors, and policy ideas to resolve them.
• REPORT: Introducing the Advanced Nuclear Industry - Third Way has identified a new generation of engineers, entrepreneurs, and investors, along with several established nuclear companies, who are working to commercialize innovative and advanced nuclear reactors in North America.
• INFOGRAPHIC: Introducing the Advanced Nuclear Industry - A new generation of engineers, entrepreneurs and investors are working to commercialize innovative and advanced nuclear reactors.
• REPORT: Nuclear Energy Renaissance Set to Move Ahead Without U.S. - Our analysis shows that the U.S. under-spends on advanced nuclear R&D. Worse, other countries outspend the U.S. in nuclear R&D, meaning the U.S. risks losing its international leadership on nuclear energy and mitigating climate change, as well as a slice of the $1 trillion in nuclear infrastructure the world needs by 2035.
• REPORT: Regulating New Types of Nuclear Reactors - Advanced nuclear today faces a significant regulatory roadblock; there is no timely pathway for the federal government to approve the license for these new, very different reactor designs.

Advanced Nuclear Resurgence in the News

• LA Times: California Entrepreneurs Push to Reinvent the Nuclear Industry, Dec. 4, 2015
• On Point with Tom Ashbrook (WBUR-NPR): Is Nuclear Power Necessary?, Dec. 3, 2015
• The Guardian: Nuclear power paves the only viable path forward on climate change, Dec. 3, 2015
• Richmond Times-Dispatch (Editorial): To ease climate change, go nuclear, Dec. 3, 2015
• Real Clear Energy: Third Way Tries to Revive Nuclear, Nov. 20, 2015
• Forbes: White House Gets Behind Nuclear Power to Fight Climate Change, Nov. 12, 2015
• LA Times: Nuclear power must be part of greener future, Nov. 12, 2015
• San Diego Union-Tribune: U.S. Nuclear Retirements Challenge Clean-Energy Dream, Nov. 9, 2015
• The Economist: Half Death: The future of nuclear energy, Oct. 31, 2015
• Bloomberg Businessweek: What Killed America's Climate-Saving Nuclear Renaissance?, Oct. 27, 2015

Questions?

More information about the Advanced Nuclear Summit and Showcase will be available soon. If you have any questions or would like to receive updates about the summit, please email us at [email protected].