The American Nuclear Society’s annual winter meeting began this week in Washington and includes scheduled appearances by U.S. lawmakers, senior federal officials and a NuScale executive who will appear following the cancellation of a small modular reactor project.
The American Nuclear Society’s winter meeting was scheduled to run from Monday to Wednesday at the Washington Hilton. The full agenda is available online.
On Monday, Sens. Shelley Capito (R-W.Va.) and Joe Manchin were scheduled to speak in succession beginning at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. Capito is the sponsor of major nuclear-energy reforms that have been included in the Senate’s version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
Manchin, who announced last week he will retire from the Senate after his term ends in January 2025, chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Christopher Hanson, chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was scheduled to speak after Capito and Manchin as part of the winter meetings’ morning plenary session.
Rounding out Monday’s morning plenary was a scheduled panel discussion that includes Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff, head of a Department of Energy portfolio of work that includes the agency’s work on its consent-based siting program: the current effort to find a willing host community for a permanent, deep underground repository for high-level radioactive waste.
On Tuesday morning, John Hopkins, chief executive officer of NuScale, was scheduled to give what the American Nuclear Society called a “special update.”
Last week, NuStart and the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems jointly announced they were canceling the planned deployment of a fleet of small modular reactors for lack of customers.
On Wednesday, an official with DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy was to participate in a panel discussion about the consent-based siting program. That discussion was scheduled for 10:00 a.m.
