“Nuclear Opportunities Workshop” wraps-up its two-day run on Wednesday
As of yesterday morning, 601 of the record-setting 660 registrants had picked up their badges.
It seems that no conference can be complete these days if there is not at least one session devoted to artificial intelligence (AI), and that was certainly the case on Wednesday during the second and final day of the “Nuclear Opportunities Workshop” (NOW).
Organized by the East Tennessee Economic Council, the program introduced the topic early on Wednesday when Prashant Jain, Interim Section Head for Advanced Reactor Engineering and Development at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), declared, “AI needs nuclear and nuclear needs AI.” It was clearly a reference to the demand that AI places on energy needs.
“The strain on the energy grid is going to magnify,” Jain told attendees, adding that AI and blockchain combined will need lots of power.
He also moderated the panel that included Mike Drudy, Director of Digital Optimization Solutions at Westinghouse Electric Company, and Kristian Kielhofner, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Atomic Canyon.
Noting that “we’re a nuclear reactor company, (so) why are we here” (on this panel), Drudy explained that Westinghouse started down the AI path five years ago.
“The nuclear industry is data rich; we document everything,” he said. “Extracting it is another thing. Westinghouse is using natural language processing” as one solution.
Kielhofner was Co-Founder of a start-up that brought smart devices into the healthcare space. After selling the company, Trey Lauderdale, his Co-Founder moved to San Luis Obispo, CA where he lived close to the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, and one day announced, “We’re going to do a nuclear industry start-up.”
Atomic Canyon leverages the expertise that they developed with electronic medical records to access and an structure a pool of 10s of millions of documentation in the nuclear area. It came out of stealth mode in mid-March with the launch of Neutron, an AI-powered platform that is designed to help developers navigate the regulatory process of the Nuclear Regulatory Committee.
Kielhofner said that the nuclear industry is a jargon and acronym heavy industry,” and their start-up is working with ORNL to teach its model to understand what terms mean from a semantic perspective.
Workforce draws a lot of interest
Bill Tindal, President of Omega Technical Services, moderated a panel with a unique title of “Non-Linear Approaches to Workforce Challenges.” It featured four educators – Olivia Blackmon (ORAU), Mark Buckner (Oak Ridge High School), Joe Stainback (Roane State Community College), and Jeff King (head of Tennessee Tech University’s new nuclear engineering program who is not officially on the payroll until August 1) – along with Naomi Asher (Boys & Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley) and Jamie Choate (Tennessee Valley Authority).
All had different takes on what and how their organizations are helping. The always energized Asher talked about Youth Force, a unique program teens in the 14 to 18 year old age group that connects them to businesses willing to invest in their training and development. Buckner talked about a program called Wildcat Manufacturing, while Blackmon observed, “Most of us have gotten to where we are through a non-traditional, non-linear model.”
Another company moving to the region
During a panel discussion, Christo Liebenberg, Chief Executive Officer of LIS Technologies, announced it was the start-up’s intention to relocate from San Diego, CA to the East Tennessee Technology Park. The company is a proprietary developer of a patented advanced laser technology, making use of infrared wavelengths to selectively excite the molecules of desired isotopes to separate them from other isotopes.
Nuclear Energy Advisory Council’s report is due at the end of October
At the end of 2023, the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council (TNEAC) submitted its initial report. The final one, with recommendation’s for Governor Bill Lee’s consideration, is due at the end of October.
During a Tuesday afternoon session at NOW, the Co-Chairs of the three TNEAC subcommittees presented the work that they groups have underway.
- The Workforce and Education Subcommittee, co-chaired by Wes Hines of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Loong Yong of Spectra Tech, is focused on strategies to provide the workforce to grow nuclear. Hines described the challenge as knowing what companies need.
- Existing and Emerging Technologies Subcommittee is co-led by Hash Hashemian of Analysis and Measurements Corporation and Don Moul of TVA. Hashemian said that, “while the opportunities for nuclear are immense, there are challenges.”
- The State Incentives, Business Opportunities, and Regulatory Concerns is co-chaired by Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Braden Stover of the Tennessee Department of Economic Development.
After their presentations, Moderator Chris Jones of Middle Tennessee Electric led an interactive session with attendees, seeking feedback on several issues with which the Council is grappling.
Discussion about advanced reactors concluded the sixth annual conference
Greg Boerschig, Vice President over TVA’s Clinch River Project, moderated the final panel (see featured image) about advanced reactors. It included Michael Joseph Durr (TVA), Rita Baranwal (Westinghouse), Florent Heidet (Ultra Safe Nuclear), and Evan Cummings (Kairos Power).
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