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Third Way and the Idaho National Lab have been holding a “New Millennium Nuclear Energy Summit” this morning in Washington, DC.

According to a press release, the meeting is aimed at generating some needed momentum:

“Despite the deep divisions in Washington over energy issues, many on both sides agree that nuclear energy must 
play a role in the nation’s energy and economic future. The summit will provide a forum to start developing 
broader consensus on the future of nuclear energy in the United States and determining the steps needed to 
revive the nation’s nuclear energy industry.”

INL says the idea for the summit came from conversations between retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del) after Voinovich visited the national lab in the summer of 2009. Carper agreed to become involved after meeting with INL Director John Grossenbacher in Washington, D.C., that autumn.

The two sent President Obama a letter, co-signed by 11 U.S. senators, seeking his support (which he gave). Copies of the letter were also sent letters to DOE’s Steven Chu plus a group described as bipartisan regulatory and industry leaders. INL says approximately 80 of the invitees committed to attend.

A story published this morning by The Hill reports that Chu, who spoke at the meeting, indicated that the Obama administration would consider proposals that would require utilities to supply increasing amounts of power from a “clean energy portfolio” of low-carbon sources, a description that includes nuclear energy. According to the story, Chu says, ”I hope we can discuss policies that can do that. A clean energy portfolio standard is one example of a potential policy that the administration and Congress should discuss.”

This would mark a departure from discussions of “renewable-electricity portfolio” which has included wind, solar and other renewables, but not necessarily nuclear power. The clean-versus-renewable semantics has much to do with rational fears that nuclear and clean-coal technologies would eventually be favored at the expense of long-term investments in solar, wind, etc.

The Hill also reported that White House energy czar Carol Browner, who also spoke at the meeting, emphasized the administration requests to Congress to expand nuclear federal loan guarantees. ”We were once at the forefront of this industry, and we need to recapture that dominant position,” Browner says.

INL is website has a running Twitter feed on the conference, or you can follow using the tag #nesummit.

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The Energy Innovation track at the Ceramic Leadership Summit June 21-22 in Baltimore, Md., will highlight advances and challenges facing the the future of energy creation, harvesting and storage. Nuclear energy, solid-oxide fuel cells and sodium metal halide batteries are just a sample of the topics to be covered by industry leaders.

Here are the abstracts for the planned presentations in this track -

Enabling a nuclear renaissance: ‘Better, faster, cheaper’ using advanced ceramics (John Marra, associate lab director, Savannah River National Lab)

The nuclear industry is at the eye of a perfect storm with fuel oil and natural gas prices near record highs, worldwide energy demands increasing at an alarming rate, and increased concerns about greenhouse gas emissions that have caused many to look negatively at long-term use of fossil fuels.  This convergence of factors has led to a growing interest in revitalization of the nuclear power industry within the United States and across the globe. This session will discuss the critical role that ceramic materials play throughout the entire fuel cycle and the critical role of materials advancements in the nuclear renaissance.

Next steps for fuel cells (Two presentations: Robert Rose, Robert Rose, senior advisor, US Fuel Cell Council; Claus Peter Kluge, R&S manager, CeramTec AG)

(Rose) Fuel cells are entering early markets in consumer products, generators of electricity; combined heat and power systems, industrial vehicles, and much more. Solid oxide systems are being developed for many of these markets, and the DOE envisions SOFC systems as simplifying and reducing the cost of carbon sequestration from coal. Rose will discuss the fuel cell vision, and the steps needed to make the vision a reality.

(Kluge) There was and is a fascination for converting energy only in two main portions: heat and electricity. There is no need for moving parts like pistons which will generate additional parasitic losses like friction and noise. Where we come from defines the state-of-the-art. Future technological, social and environmental aspects will define the way to go. The goal is to decrease costs and complexity in the customers’ cognition and to morph the specialty into a high volume standard product. The challenges are material development and processing to get well-defined, efficient and reliable products.

An industry perspective: Development and application of ceramic materials for efficient and clean power generation (William Treadway, group leader for ceramics and deputy department leader for the Physical Sciences Department, United Technologies Research Center; Ellen Sun, principal research scientist, UTRC)

UTRC is the central research organization for United Technologies Corporation - a world leader in the development and integration of energy efficient and clean power generation systems. The presentation will share UTRC’s experience in materials development, component testing, and system or sub-system demonstration and discuss material needs for near-term efficient and low emission power systems.

Materials for advanced sodium metal halide batteries (Mohamed Rahmane, senior engineer/project leader, GE Global Research)

The world needs large-scale energy storage devices and systems that are safe, reliable and economical. There are currently very few economically viable and technically feasible storage solutions that are dispatchable and meet the stringent cost and reliability demands. High-energy-density sodium metal halide battery technology is emerging as one of the key solutions, and GE is addressing the technology challenges and taking it to the manufacturing and commercial stages. This presentation will discuss the critical role that materials, particularly ceramics, play in the performance and life of sodium metal halide batteries.

The Ceramic Leadership Summit offers cutting edge industry discussion by the world’s scientific leaders. Become a part of the future of ceramics. Register now.

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John Marra spoke at the Materials Challenges in Energy conference in February 2010 on new and emerging approaches to the thorny issue of managing nuclear wastes, and the fundamental changes that need to be made. Concerns about nuclear wastes have plagued nuclear power operators for decades and the Obama administration’s call for building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants and commitments for over $8 billion in loan guarantees for the construction of two new nuclear reactors in the United States gives these concerns new meaning.

Although Marra takes some time to explain the political and technical context of a “nuclear renaissance,” his main points have to do with a roadmap for applying new techniques for converting spent fuel into safer and reusable assets, and moving to a fuel-recycle model rather than the existing “once-through” model. He also discusses the coming Gen III and IV reactors, and opportunities for the most significant R&D gains.

Marra is an associate laboratory director at the Savannah River National Lab where he works on Strategic Initiative Development. He has worked for over two decades in the management and treatment of high-level radioactive waste, development and application of advanced materials and advanced chemical process applications. He has coauthored numerous publications on the application of ceramic materials in the nuclear industry. Marra is also a past-president of ACerS, an Fellow of the Society and a past chair and past trustee/director of the organization’s Nuclear & Environmental Technology Division.

37 minutes.

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