7:30 am — 8:30 am

Networking Breakfast

8:30 am — 9:30 am

Nuclear Energy Security Landscape: Megatrends in Megawatts

Countries throughout the world are increasingly concerned about their energy security and are turning to nuclear energy to not only achieve their net-zero targets, but also to ensure a reliable and affordable supply of electricity for their energy security.

These opening speakers will provide an overview of the worldwide landscape in nuclear energy deployment and how geopolitics is altering the conversation, supply chains and prioritization of energy security, national or regional security, and climate outcomes.

Additionally, they will provide perspective on the technological advancements being made to meet these needs and where continued focus will be needed to meet, or accelerate, reactor deployment opportunities.

William E. ForkPartnerPillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Mark PetersExecutive Vice President, Laboratory Management/OperationsBattelle

Brian McCormackPrincipalUCAN PowerModerator

9:30 am — 10:00 am

Keynote Address

U.S. Senator Jim Risch of Idaho provides a unique perspective on energy security and specifically nuclear energy security, from his key Senate Committee positions on Foreign Relations, Energy and Natural Resources and the Select Committee on Intelligence.

Additionally, Senator Risch represents the key national laboratory dedicated to nuclear energy, the Idaho National Laboratory, that supports the U.S. Department of Energy and its Office of Nuclear Energy, and where the very first nuclear reactors were developed and where ongoing research, develop, testing and evaluations is conducted to deploy the most advanced nuclear reactors and their fuels for both civilian and military purposes.

James E. RischUnited States SenatorState of Idaho

10:00 am — 10:15 am

Networking Break

10:15 am — 11:00 am

Global Nuclear Energy Security Among U.S. Allies

This distinguished group of allied nuclear country representatives discuss national perspectives on the importance of nuclear energy, energy security, reliability of supply, net-zero objectives, and the impact of geopolitical developments.

Bartosz FolusiakHead of the Economic SectionEmbassy of the Republic of Poland

Youngjae KimEconomic MinisterEmbassy of the Republic of Korea

Eva Hunnius OhlinSenior Advisor for Energy and EnvironmentEmbassy of Sweden

Ana-Maria PetrescuPolitical Affairs OfficerEmbassy of Romania

Theodore J. GarrishPresidentUCAN PowerModerator

11:00 am — 12:00 pm

Energy Resilience in a Contested Environment - Department of Defense Programs for Advanced Nuclear Power

The Department of Defense has committed significant resources to enhance energy assurance, resilience, and sustainability for military forces by developing programs to unleash capabilities from the tether of contested fuel supplies and delivery arounds the world. Two distinct programs are committed to the deployment of advanced nuclear power reactors to reduce the reliance on commercial power or legacy generation for both domestic military bases and in overseas contingencies. This panel of experts from the Department of Defense will discuss the challenges faced to meet warfighter power and thermal needs, and update the audience on the progress of programs to meet those needs with nuclear reactor generation.

Jess Gehin, Ph.D.Associate Laboratory Director, Nuclear Science & TechnologyIdaho National Laboratory

Peter Hooper, PESenior Lead EngineerU.S. Air Force Office of Energy Assurance

Richard KiddFormer Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment & Energy ResilienceDepartment of Defense

Juan Vitali, Ph.D.Chief, Nuclear PowerU.S. Army (Headquarters)

Jeff Waksman, Ph.D.Program ManagerStrategic Capabilities Office, Department of Defense

Lucian NiemeyerPrincipalUCAN PowerModerator

12:00 pm — 12:10 pm

Live Update from Bratislava, Slovakia from the Project Phoenix Workshop and Launch Event

Project Phoenix, announced by U.S. Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry at the UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt (COP27), “aims to accelerate the global clean energy transition by providing technical assistance to support decision making on pursuing the conversion of one or more coal-fired power plants to secure and safe zero-carbon small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear energy generation.

The project will be carried out under the U.S. Department of State’s Foundational Infrastructure for the Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) Program in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Small Modular Reactor Public-Private Program (SMR PPP), which aims to promote transatlantic cooperation to deploy SMRs in Europe and Eurasia”.

John KotekSenior Vice PresidentNuclear Energy Institute

12:00 pm — 12:45 pm

Networking Luncheon

12:45 pm — 1:30 pm

Going Behind the Meter: Industrial Nuclear Energy Applications

As advanced nuclear leverages its size and flexibility, increased deployment opportunities are emerging. This is being seen in on-site generation, as envisioned for Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, but also for off-site needs including data centers as well as chemical and steel production to support both civilian use and national security missions. Nuclear energy is also being considered as a clean and reliable base-load energy source for other locations, including other remote military installations and remote communities.

Standard Power’s Chairman Doug Wurth and CEO Max Serezhin will discuss their company’s infrastructure as a service business model. They will be joined by Clayton Scott, Executive Vice President of NuScale to discuss their recent partnership announcement and plans to develop two small modular reactor powered facilities in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

David Brown, Senior Vice President, Federal Government Affairs and Public Policy at Constellation, will discuss their continued focus on nuclear energy as the largest provider in the nation and behind the meter agreements they have for commercial & industrial customers.

These providers are especially aware of the national security community’s increased data needs for mission support and the growing importance of partnership between power and data providers.

David BrownSenior Vice President, Federal Government Affairs & Public PolicyConstellation

Maxim SerezhinChief Executive OfficerStandard Power

Clayton ScottChief Commercial OfficerNuScale Power

Douglas WurthChairmanStandard Power

Brian McCormackPrincipalUCAN PowerModerator

1:30 pm — 2:15 pm

Global Suppliers for Nuclear Energy Security

This panel of nuclear energy reactor vendors and suppliers will provide overviews of their technological advancements and how they are bringing a new wave of nuclear energy technologies to market commercially and inside the U.S. Government for greater efficiencies and energy security.

Many of these technologies had their birth at our national laboratories, including Argonne National Laboratory, the Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory decades ago and are only now being perfected in the private sector for commercial use. Some of these advanced nuclear technologies will be used to diversify the energy mix and make the energy security transition more resilient.

Roland BackhausExecutive Vice President for Global StrategyUltra Safe Nuclear Corporation

VADM Frederick Roegge, USN, (ret.)PresidentHoltec Government Services

James Walker (BEng, MSc, CEng, PEng)Chief Executive OfficerNANO Nuclear Energy, Inc.

Corey McDaniel, Ph.DNorthwest Regional ManagerKiewit Nuclear SolutionsModerator

2:15 pm — 2:45 pm

Networking Break

2:45 pm — 3:30 pm

State of the States in Nuclear Energy

Governors and state leaders are actively looking at the new opportunities for advanced nuclear deployments in supporting national security and energy resilience. As many as eight states have either expressed interest or made headway in being early deployers. Many of these states are also host to national defense critical infrastructure that would benefit from assured power supply.

We will hear from state energy leaders about their efforts in deploying advanced nuclear, attracting supply chains and workforces, and the challenges they face.

Glenn DavisDirectorVirginia Department of Energy

Brandon GibsonChief Operating OfficerTennessee Governor’s Office

Brian McCormackPrincipalUCAN PowerModerator

3:30 pm — 4:15 pm

International Financial Support for Nuclear Energy

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) as the successor agency to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) partners with the private sector to “finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world today, while advancing American foreign policy and American commercial competitiveness”. DFC reversed a longstanding ban in 2020 to fund civilian nuclear energy projects that now will help increase global energy security to help meet emissions reduction goals while providing reliable baseload generation with nuclear power.

The International Bank for Nuclear Infrastructure (IBNI) is a conceptual new multilateral international financing institution that will provide financing and other support for qualified nuclear energy projects within its member countries. IBNI’s main mission will be to support key policy goals – energy security, decarbonization and sustainable development — through a transformative global expansion of nuclear energy.

William PeguesStructured Finance & InsuranceU.S. International Development Finance Corporation

Elina TeplinskyPartnerPillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Jeff CraterPrincipalUCAN PowerModerator

4:15 pm — 5:00 pm

Nuclear Fuels - Altering the World Dynamic on Nuclear Energy, Moving at the Pace of Uranium

Nuclear fuels seem to have been taken for granted with an abundant global supply chain. That is, until we saw a need to enrich uranium to HALEU while energy and national security requirements pivoted in favor of developing more indigenous capabilities and working even closer with allies. This session will address the current state of affairs on the nuclear fuel cycle and enriched uranium from a U.S. perspective, including enrichment, deconversion, advanced and accident tolerant fuels, used fuel, and a look into making reprocessing more efficient and affordable. We’ll also examine a possible revival of enriched uranium for national security purposes.