September-October 2018 NPJ

Overcoming Industry Challenges By John Kotek, The Nuclear Energy Institute. John Kotek John Kotek is NEI’s vice president of policy development and public affairs. He was the deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy from 2015- 2017, served as the American Nuclear Society’s Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Fellow for Sen. Jeff Bingaman, and led nuclear energy research programs at Argonne National Laboratory-West in Idaho. Kotek holds a bachelors of science in nuclear engineering from the University of Illinois and a master of business administration form the University of Maryland. A telephone interview by Newal Agnihotri, Editor of Nuclear Plant Journal. Photo © 2018 by NEI. 1. What efforts are being made by NEI to ensure that the needed infrastructure for High Assay Low Enriched Uranium is created to ensure a smooth development of Small Modular Reactors? NEI has been focused on spurring the development of high-assay low-en- riched uranium (HALEU) resources to facilitate both advanced fuels for today’s reactors and fuels that could be used in the next generation of reactors. Over the past several months, we’ve issued a white paper on advanced reactor fuel infrastruc- ture that highlights the need for uranium that’s enriched between 5% to 20%. In July 2018, we sent a letter to Secretary Perry urging DOE to provide an interim supply of HALEU, to accelerate the de- velopment of both HALEU fuel infra- structure and the ad- vanced fuels and ad- vanced reactors that require HALEU. We’ve also seen helpful legislation moving through Congress. There is the Advanced Nu- clear Fuel Availabil- ity Act, which came out of the House Energy and Com- merce Committee in July and is waiting for consideration on the House floor. In early September, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act, which would establish a program to provide a minimum amount of HALEU. Finally, we’ve seen both the House and the Senate include fund- ing in the Department of Energy’s fiscal year 2019 appropriations bills that would pay for steps towards the development of HALEU resources coming from the DOE. In the near term, the nation will need to develop a commercial supply of HALEU a bit further down the road and we will also need to re-establish the capability to produce enriched uranium for national security purposes. The longer we wait on meeting those needs, the more difficult it may become. 2. Is the high-assay LEU issue likely to prevent the development of advanced small modular reactors? In our view, it’s an issue that has to be addressed in the relatively short-term to ensure that the availability of HALEU fuel doesn’t become an impediment to either advanced technology fuel or to a next generation of reactors. The Department of Energy has sufficient material in various forms that could be used to meet this need. And so, we’re working with the department to provide an interim supply of material, both to meet near-term needs and also to send the signal to the fuel supply industry that demand for larger quantities of the material will be forthcoming and that they should make the necessary investments in the enrichment and other fuel cycle capabilities. 3. What is the current status of the efforts by NEI and the industry to prevent the closure of nuclear power plants? We appreciate the administration’s recognition of the importance of nuclear energy and the importance of ensuring that additional plants don’t close prematurely. Thus far state-level action has been the clearest pathway to success. As you know, four states have now taken action to ensure that of the attributes that nuclear power delivers to our electric grid are fully recognized. Those four states, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, have taken positive action to either establish zero emission credit programs or other mechanisms to value nuclear for its zero emissions attribute. A secondary benefit of these policies will be the preservation of low electricity prices, and the jobs and economic activity that these plants bring. State policymakers have begun to recognize the many and varied contributions that nuclear plants make to state economies. We will continue to work with and through NEI member companies at the state level to ensure that the benefits that nuclear delivers are more fully valued over a wider range of states. We’ve certainly seen interest in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, Minnesota and now Arizona to better understand the contributions that nuclear makes in those states, and those conversations could lead to, we hope, additional state-level policy actions to better value nuclear plants. At the federal level, we’ve also seen an increased recognition of the national 24 NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, September-October 2018