Last week, Generation Atomic generously helped me attend the US Nuclear Industry Council’s annual Advanced Reactors Summit, hosted this year in Charlotte.
As an advocate for nuclear energy, it can feel redundant to join a gathering where everyone is already pro-nuclear. If you’re going to the trouble of attending an event, why hang out with a bunch of like-minded people rather than seeking out a chance to talk with skeptics?
It’s a fair question. It feels like there a few answers:
- Making people connections. As an advocate, it’s a boon to have a sense of the arguments in favor of nuclear from as many perspectives as possible. And it’s especially helpful to hear those perspectives from real people, many of whom have been thinking carefully about their work for decades. Hearing from those people directly pays dividends in those conversations with skeptics, as it often feels more authentic and persuasive to convey the perspective of a real person than to quote statistics gathered online.
- Making system connections. Attending a nuclear energy conference will give you a sense of a complex ecosystem of academics, researchers, regulators, government leaders, policy wonks, suppliers, power providers, industry experts, and experts on finance. Every person you encounter plays some crucial role in that ecosystem. The better your sense of how the parts of the system interact, the clearer the picture you can paint for other people about what’s possible and what it will take to get there.
- Feeling the enthusiasm. It’s easy to tell that people working in nuclear energy are feeling a deep sense of excitement — as government and outside investors devote more funding, as startups enter the space, as regulators greenlight new designs, and as projects get planned and come online. It really does feel like people all over the world are waking up to nuclear as a source of carbon-free, reliable, baseload power — and so the demand for new nuclear is growing faster than it can get delivered. I’m new to this world, so I didn’t earn the excitement that people are feeling, but it’s fun and energizing to be around it all the same.
- Feeling the friction. That said, going to a nuclear energy gathering is also a great way to learn about the obstacles still standing in the way. In Charlotte, those centered on regulation, workforce training, a weak supply chain for fuel and components, hesitation among funders, and public opinion. As an advocate, it makes sense to focus on public opinion, but knowing the other struggles that nuclear still faces can give you a checklist when it comes time to turn public opinion into public action. (Maybe it’s telling that people in Charlotte weren’t talking about safety, waste, or proliferation — which I think most insiders consider solved problems.)
- Grappling with a bias. It feels like a lot of advocates (myself included) started down a path of fascination with nuclear energy after learning about some particular aspect or approach: microreactors, thorium, molten salt, coal-to-nuclear, nuclear CCS, etc. Chatting with people at a conference gives you a chance to offer your particular take and to hear the reaction of an expert on that subject. Maybe they completely agree. Maybe they agree but with reservations. Maybe they offer a whole new perspective or some key context. As an advocate, you’re always hoping that people are game for thinking in new ways. A conference of people who are like-minded (more-or-less) turns out to be a great place to practice what you preach by trying to revisit your own assumptions.
By all means, seek out the gatherings of skeptics, but, if you can, give the nuclear energy gatherings a try as well. The people you meet there are your comrades. When you advocate for nuclear energy, in a deep sense you’re advocating for their work. The better you know that work — and the better you know them as human beings — the more energized and effective you can be.
Author: Steve Moore — physicalplant@gmail.com
