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Dry cask storage of spent fuel at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. / Entergy
Going nuclear? Yes and no Plant closures and small modular reactors are expected to define the nuclear landscape for the foreseeable future – and provide opportunities for enterprising engineers.
By RICHARD MASSEY Managing Editor
“As long as you are innovative, the world could be your oyster,” says Rod McCullum, a nuclear engi- neer and senior director of used fuel and decom- missioning programs for the Washington D.C.- based Nuclear Energy Institute. “This is an exciting time. It’s an industry that has to reinvent itself to survive.” “As long as you are innovative, the world could be your oyster. This is an exciting time. It’s an industry that has to reinvent itself to survive.” Specifically, McCullum referenced advanced reac- tors and small modular reactors, new technology that could be used to generate electricity in isolat- ed areas or produce high-temp process heat for in- dustrial purposes. A stark contrast to the big, plod- ding nuclear plants that have been the mainstay of the industry for decades, small modular reactors appear to represent the future. “No one’s building those right now,” McCullum says, referring to the opportunities offered by the technology.
T hough the future of U.S. nuclear power is un- certain, there is a future. The recent spate of announced closures for plants across the country, and the marathon decommissionings that will en- sue, has been accompanied by news that other reac- tors have been permitted for construction. Also, experts say, the role of innovation and entre- preneurism should play a role in keeping nuclear on the agenda, even as it continues to lose ground to renewables like wind and solar, and to cheap and abundant natural gas. Internationally, important countries like China, In- dia, and South Korea are making big bets on nucle- ar energy. And those countries are not alone. Glob- ally, the World Nuclear Association reports that more than 160 power reactors are planned, and that another 300 are proposed. In between the market here in the United States and the one abroad, there’s plenty of room for young engineers looking to make their names. But they’ll have to be creative.
Rod McCul- lum, Nuclear Engineer, Nuclear En- ergy Institute
Tony Leshin- skie, Nuclear Engineer, State of Ver- mont
THE ZWEIG LETTER July 25
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