VP Candidate Responses to Member Questions

Q. What are your plans for ensuring that ANS remains involved in the entire nuclear industry and not just in nuclear power? Submitted by: S.S. Snyder

A. Jacques Besnainou
The nuclear revival in our country is not just about building new reactors. It is about rebuilding an industry which will not only contribute to our energy security, but will also support our economic growth and competitiveness. Nuclear power plants don't operate in a void. They must be serviced by a reliable and cost effective supply chain from the beginning to the end of the process. This supply chain includes everything from nuts and bolts to air conditioning, roofing materials and everything needed to support the construction and operations of a new nuclear power plant. But it does not stop there.

In order to ensure a profitable and growing industry, we must ensure that we can support this industry in American. That's why we need to have heavy equipment manufacturing, enrichment facilities, and even forging capabilities in the U.S. Some of the vendors have already embarked on these very important industry efforts. ANS must help by continuing its R&D efforts at the National Labs, and by helping to educate the public about the economic, environmental and social benefits the nuclear industry can provide.

A. Eric P. Loewen
The ANS was originally formed to promote atoms for peace through nuclear power. As the nuclear sciences and technologies expanded we followed suit but, I believe, we were a bit slow in expanding our interests beyond nuclear power.

Today we have a broad membership from, and involvement with, the range of NS&Ts. Note the diversity of our Professional Divisions and Working Groups, and note our range of ANS Position Statements at: http://www.ans.org/pi/ps.

My plans include facilitating the work of ANS members to share our expertise and information with the various technical communities. One of my initiatives will be to coordinate with related professional organizations (such as NEI, ASME, INPO, NRC, etc.) to schedule workshops and professional forums at the same location before or after our semi-annual meetings.

Q. Should the carbon-dioxide-caused global warming argument be used to increase the use of nuclear energy? Submitted by: C.T. Rombough

A. Jacques Besnainou
When it comes to our energy choices, three requirements have to be met: Sustainability, Competitiveness to support our national economy, and Security of supply. Nuclear energy is the only one to meet at three. And the facts say it all: nuclear energy is competitive, available, and yes...carbon-free. The issue of climate change is more and more seen as a major threat for national and global security. Nuclear energy can help solve this challenge. As President Obama noted in his State of the Union address as well as his recent announcement about the loan guarantees for nuclear power plants, "...(to) prevent the worst consequences of climate change, we'll need to increase our supply of nuclear power." And yes, I believe that nuclear energy is the only energy source that can provide a large quantity of baseload, carbon-free electricity supply right now. One new nuclear power plant will cut carbon emissions by 16 million tons, the equivalent of taking 3.5 million cars off the road! Nuclear power is proven and cost effective and it provides security of supply for the long term. When facing long term capital investments decisions, the stability and predictability of nuclear power - as compared to the significant uncertainties related to fossil fuel generation - is a very important argument.

A. Eric P. Loewen
No. I invite your attention to ANS Position Statement #44 "Nuclear Energy: The Leading Strategy for Reducing Carbon-Dioxide Emissions" (Revised June 2006). I believe that the general public - and even some of the 'green community' - recognizes the role of nuclear energy as related to CO2 emissions. This is a positive for our technology. Our nation's policy makers are coming to similar conclusions. This is also positive for out technology's further use. The U.S. climate policy supports the use of nuclear power. Please see both Title 16 Climate Change and Title 17 Incentives for Innovative Technologies of Energy Policy Act of 2005, which clearly support the expanded use of nuclear energy.

Q. Why does ANS hold a Winter and Summer meeting? I understand that the meetings generate revenue for ANS, but this seems to be at the expense of quality in the technical sessions. Submitted by: P.J. Vescovi

A. Jacques Besnainou
The summer and winter meetings provide many opportunities for the participants to grow professionally and personally. The technical sessions are one important part of the meetings. The opportunity to talk with colleagues, exchange ideas and learn about new R&D efforts are important as well. This year marks the first time that we will have exhibits at the summer session, allowing participants to talk with trade publications, potential employers or suppliers. As I stated earlier, we must look at the nuclear industry as a whole and these meetings are an important part of ensuring growth for the industry and in the supply chain.

A. Eric P. Loewen
Our ANS Summer Meeting is our legally mandated "Annual Meeting." Our additional ANS Winter Meeting provides another venue to our members to share technical information.

With our active governance and professional structure - nineteen Professional Divisions, three Technical/Working Groups, twenty-one Standing Committees, and four Special Committees - it is appropriate to meet bi-annually to provide a venue to present, discuss and report the information we develop and provide regarding the nuclear sciences and technologies.

Yes, the meetings do bring in about 30 percent of our Society's revenue, but that is not their primary purpose. The meetings provide a major source and means of projecting to the nation the information we collect and disseminate to the public about the NS&Ts.

I believe that integrating the topical/technical meetings into the bi-annual meetings provides additional value-added to our members. The integrated meeting venues provides a definite plus to both the ANS full-time members and the non-member topical presenters.

I envision that we can enhance the value of our ANS bi-annual meeting by mutually scheduling them with other professional societies to mingle and exchange ideas and information related to the NS&Ts.

Q. Looking forward, what do you view as the primary and most valuable function of the Society? For example, might this primary function be information exchange among the membership, or might this be a platform to disseminate information on NS&T to the public, or might this instead be a professional guild and advocacy for the membership and its activities (e.g., in analog to a National Bar Association)? Submitted by: Luca Gratton

A. Jacques Besnainou
As I have stated many times throughout the past months, we, the members of the American Nuclear Society, should be ambassadors for nuclear energy. We are responsible for helping to educate the public about nuclear energy, using facts to support our statements and to promote its benefits. Advocacy for our members would be in the form of supporting the Society's main objectives and in particular, through support of R&D efforts in our National Labs and by our interface with government agencies, educational institutions. We will not succeed in our battles against climate change and energy security without nuclear energy. And it is our responsibility to help the public to understand this fact.

A. Eric P. Loewen
The ANS function of most value to our Society, and society in general, is collection, maintenance, and dissemination of information related to the nuclear sciences and technologies. For half a century we have collected, printed and archived professional and technical papers in three technical publications and numerous conference proceedings. I envision converting our paper archives to electronic files to make more accessible our impressive collection of information to both members and the public.

Q. Arguably, the civilian power segment of the NS&Ts is simultaneously the most visible, the segment with the most widely understood benefits to society, and perhaps the most controversial among the general publics. Based upon this premise, what might your response be to a hypothetical skeptic who argues that competing technologies are now sufficiently mature to replace or displace the zero-carbon (i.e., environmental) benefits of civilian power generation with lower preliminary capital expense and lower potential hazard? Submitted by: Luca Gratton

A. Jacques Besnainou
The answer is easy - there is no solution to zero-carbon emissions or climate change without nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is not the only solution, but it must be part of the solution. We must have all kinds of carbon-free energy sources in order to address climate change and secure a viable future for our children and grandchildren. Commercial nuclear power has an impeccable safety record. Nuclear power provides a large part of our baseload carbon-free energy, contrary to that provided by wind and solar power. With that said, we should keep in mind that clean energy sources are complimentary. Solar and wind are great, but when there is no sun or no wind, there will be no electricity generation. By using nuclear along with renewable sources, we can ensure a reliable energy supply. Nuclear energy has been recognized by the OECD, the International Energy Agency and many major industrialized and emerging countries as the way to win the race against climate change. It is sustainable, competitive and provides energy security for our country. Now it is up to us, nuclear energy advocates, to promote this safe, reliable and economical energy source.

A. Eric P. Loewen
The technological definitions of the competing technologies - wind and solar - are sufficiently developed. But the major problem is scale. The geographic footprint and environmental intrusions of wind farms, solar panel fields, and the essential transmission lines to the users pose significant challenges in the political arena.