Playing Without Fear

By Nicholas Smith, Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment project director, Idaho National Laboratory

After graduating college, I was determined to play in the National Football League. I had the experience and the drive, but my body wasn’t on the same page, and I tore my hamstring during my first months playing for the New York Jets. This initial injury made it unlikely that I could return to professional football. Although this was devastating at the time, the experience led me to collaborate on groundbreaking research projects that could change the world’s energy future.

I learned a lot about failure after being cut from the Jets. It’s painful. When faced with failure, it can be easy to fall back into what’s comfortable to avoid failing again. In my experience, this fear of failing made me second guess my ability to succeed at anything new.

I could have shrunken back into what was comfortable and known to me, like coaching, which would have been a natural next step. Instead, I decided to go back to school and pursue something that interested me, electrical engineering. I knew it would be challenging, and I had doubts about whether I was smart enough to do the work.

In football, there was no room for self-doubt. When I lined up and put my hand in that dirt, I wasn’t thinking, “Nick, what if you get knocked back?” I was thinking “Nick, hit this guy as hard as you possibly can.” I had to bring that mindset into my education. Instead of worrying, “what if you fail this class?” I thought to myself, “learn everything you possibly can from this class.”

I went on to become an engineer with Southern Company, and from there things fell into place. During my time in the energy industry, I recognized the need for solutions to the world’s climate change crisis. I learned as much as I could about energy production options and what the likely solutions looked like. This led me to receive my master’s in nuclear engineering.

Nicholas Smith, middle left, at a Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment meeting with TerraPower and Southern Company.

I now work at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) with amazing nuclear researchers and world-class research capabilities. I am currently working with a team from INL and the nuclear industry on the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment project to demonstrate the world’s first fast-spectrum molten salt reactor here at INL. The technology stands out as a great option for nuclear energy going forward because it has characteristics aligned with nuclear industry priorities like economic competitiveness, rapid decarbonization and design flexibility to meet fuel cycle goals. I am proud to be a part of this historic public-private collaboration.

When I look back at my past experiences, it’s clear football taught me that when I focus all my effort on creating a winning condition, I don’t need to be afraid of failure. My career change has given me the opportunity to work on innovative new technology, but most importantly, it has allowed me to be a player in developing solutions to the world’s energy future.

Learn more about the lab's innovative research:?https://inl.gov