Congress Agenda Day Two – Wednesday, December 10, 2008
9:00-9:15
Chairman’s Recap of Day One
9:15-10:00
Evaluating Next Generation Reactor Designs and their Impact on Capital Costs
- Quantifying the impact of standardized plant designs on construction and operating costs
- Leveraging advanced plant designs to minimize risks in materials and equipment reliability
- Determining the impact of advanced safety and security features of next generation reactors
- An update on the NRC’s certification of advanced nuclear technology and new plant designs
- How certification of new designs affect COL applications
William N. Gardner
Manager of Contracts
Westinghouse
10:00-10:45
Balancing Act: How to Manage the Competing Interests, Stakeholder Dynamics, and Risks of Nuclear Power Projects
Development and delivery of nuclear power plants require huge resources as well as the coordination and cooperation of multiple stakeholders in order to achieve the desired project objectives. Power and utility executives must balance the increasing demand for electricity with customer price sensitivity and market fluctuations in the cost of energy production. Contractors must manage the uncertainty of labor and material costs, regulatory oversight, quality, and safety risks. Internal auditors are challenged with providing governance and oversight on "bet the company" projects while maintaining their independence and objectivity. Lenders seek adequate returns on risky ventures and demand protection of their interests. Project managers are tasked with juggling all of these competing stakeholder interests in a highly visible and stressful environment.
This panel of industry executives, a contractor, an internal auditor, a lender, and a project manager will explore various strategies and approaches to balancing these diverging and often competing project dynamics.
Moderator:
Geno Armstrong, Principal
KPMG
Panel speakers to be confirmed
10:45-11:15
Networking and Refreshment Break
11:15-12:00
Tackling Supply Chain Constraints: Real Solutions for Meeting the Renewed Demand for Nuclear Construction Services
- Supply versus demand – assessing the current market for nuclear components, commodities and services
- Re-establishing a nuclear infrastructure – examining the strategies being employed to expand the capacity of heavy forgings and other key long-lead components to overcome bottlenecks in availability
- Transitioning from a customized design to a standardized design for new plants to streamline new plant development and deployment
- Examining supplier and buyer supply chain strategies
- Assessing capacity and expanding to meet demand
- Utilizing reservation agreements
- Regulatory requirements for new market entrants
Randy Mundy
Project Engineer
Southern Company
12:00-12:45
Overcoming the Critical Workforce Deficit: Leveraging Innovative Strategies to Develop the Next Generation of Nuclear Engineers to Meet the Growing Demand for Skilled Labor
- Tapping into Federal and educational establishment initiatives to ensure the availability of an adequate skilled workforce to build and operate the next fleet of nuclear plants
- Reprogramming the education process by giving industry, the NRC and the DOE a strong say in developing relevant curricula for universities and community colleges
- Expanding industry and national laboratory internships of undergraduates students
- Equipping employees with the requisite knowledge and skill to successfully perform in a cross-discipline environment
- Creating a prescriptive learning approach
- Innovative human resources strategies to offset the labor shortage and establish the next generation of nuclear plant personnel while maintaining safety and reliability standards
- Forming strategic alliances with educational institutions
- Increasing or implementing, training and education programs for plant personnel in order to upgrade and expand their relevant skill set
- Creating flexible work environments
Dr. Robert Rhodes
Vice-President of Training and Outreach
New Mexico Junior College
Dr. James Wright
Director, High Temperature Teaching and Test Reactor Program
University of Texas
12:45-2:00
Networking Luncheon
2:00-2:45
The Waste Storage Hurdle: Will it End the Nuclear Renaissance Before it Begins?
The long-term disposal of nuclear waste remains a key challenge and a fundamental constraint in terms of the development, deployment and long-term operation of new nuclear plants. The proposed Nevada Yucca Mountain Repository remains in legal and political limbo, a full decade behind schedule. What is the current status of that facility? What are the plans for spent nuclear fuel that is currently in storage onsite at the nuclear utilities around the country? What new solutions are being proposed for interim storage? What are the latest DOE developments with regards to the regulation of recycling spent nuclear fuel? Reprocessing could have a positive impact on the economic of nuclear energy, is this something the new administration will consider to help advance the nuclear power renaissance? And what new R&D efforts are underway or being considered that could address proliferation issues? There are also disposal challenges for low-level nuclear waste. What are those challenges and how are they being addressed? How could these challenges impact the nuclear renaissance?
Lewis Johnson
President
Studsvik, Inc.
Joseph DiCamillo
General Counsel
Studsvik, Inc.
Speaker to be Confirmed
U.S. Department of Energy
2:45-3:30
Leveraging Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) to Mitigate the Risks associated with New Nuclear Plant Development
- Understanding the full range of benefits which can be derived from the PPP
- Examining current DOE and industry next-generation reactor design consortiums – highlighting the benefits and rationale behind these alliances
- Utilizing PPP to develop reprocessing facilities
- Procurement models for PPP – Assessing, allocating and mitigating risk between stakeholders for a win-win partnership
Philip C. Hildebrandt
Director of the Next Generation Nuclear Project
Idaho National Laboratory (invited)
3:30-4:00
Networking and Refreshment Break
4:00-4:45
Capitalizing on the Renewed Acceptance of Nuclear Energy as an Alternative to Fossil Fuels: Developing Strategies that Leverage Public Support and Promote Nuclear as a Safe and Viable Energy Option
- Engaging the public and communicating the environmental benefits of nuclear energy versus polluting fossil fuel sources
- Creating tailored messages to target specific sectors of the public
- Leveraging the successful marketing initiatives of other energy companies that have reinvented themselves in today’s environmentally conscious society
- Educating the public on industry progress and the enhanced safety features of today’s nuclear reactors to offset fears around accidents
- Aligning with key environmental groups to proactively educate the public on the economic and environmental advantages of nuclear energy
Dave Altman
Vice President, Public Affairs
Southern Company (invited)
Steven Kerkes
Senior Director
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) (invited)
4:45-5:30
Planning for Increased Transmission – Tapping into the Electricity Grid with New Nuclear Construction Projects
- Understanding the planning process for new generation and transmission
- Working with public utility commissions to accommodate growth in nuclear power generation
- Regional perspectives on transmission needs – Mid-Atlantic, Texas and Southwestern Corridor
Speaker to be Confirmed
5:30
Chairman’s Closing Remarks and End of Congress
