Reflection on Supply Chain Optimism at 2023 USNIC AR Summit X

I had the honor of speaking as part of a panel at the 2023 United States Nuclear Industry Council Summit X to share my optimism about the supply chain and our industry’s talent for the evolving advanced reactor market.?We’ve come a long way since the 2018 and 2019 Summit discussions about infrastructure gaps and efforts to assure new reactors are licensable and manufacturable!?

Reports like the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Pathways to Commercial Liftoff and the GAINnuclear recent supply chain assessment have reinforced the need for order books and note the supply chain capabilities and gaps for major components and fuel supply, framing a clearer path forward.

There’s a long, worldwide history of developing manufacturing and the capacity to meet industrial needs, and I am confident we have the foundation on which to build. The opportunity is before us to take advantage of our collective capacity, to leverage the relationships of like-minded nations and to tap into the emerging talent to meet supply chain challenges. With the advent of advanced computational capability, data analytics and innovative manufacturing, I am convinced that we have the necessary building blocks.

When it comes to challenges, workforce is at the top of each list; however, I feel strongly that as we clearly define the capacity and workforce needs, we can address them. Investment in talent is happening and will continue to increase as we continue to define our needs. Order books will come, and the legislative efforts and collective actions of developers, government and end users will help to spur this along.

I am inspired by the “can do” mindset of our younger generations and the drive to accelerate our development of new nuclear. They are part of our new culture, and as we embrace the drive and perspective they bring, we will be successful as they assume the leadership of a new era of nuclear at the center of clean energy.

They will challenge us! We need their voice and to give them the space to excel as we deploy the gigawatts of new nuclear.?

Let’s build the workforce that will take nuclear energy to the next level, and let’s do all we can to secure the order books needed for the future.

Thank you to Bristol Hartlage for facilitating a great dialogue with Rich Voorberg and Michael Beck that reinforced shaping the future of our industry; and a special callout to Jeffrey Merrifield for taking the risk to let me share again!?And thank you Caleb H.S. Ward for a well-organized event!