SMRs in Washington State and Washington D.C.

Dramatic slide of Design Simplification for NuScale SMRs
Components in gray are needed for full-size reactor, but not for NuScale

Northwest Clean Energy blog (the blog of Energy Northwest) just published Talking Nuclear Energy from Washington State to Washington D.C.  

Full disclosure here: I wrote the post.

Frankly, it was a pleasure to write this post, because it is basically hopeful about the future. It discusses meetings in Washington D.C. and Washington State. The NuScale Power SMR was featured at both meetings, and Energy Northwest is part of the SMR initiative.

Here's a brief description of the two meetings, in the two Washingtons:

• The recent Nuclear Summit in Washington D.C. had some good news about how the Department of Energy and the National Laboratories will assist Small Modular Reactors to come to market.   
• The Washington State Legislature established a Task Force to encourage the possible role of Washington State in manufacturing Small Modular Reactors.  At a recent meeting, NuScale described progress in designing and building its reactor. A slide from that presentation is featured above.

Writing this post was a pleasant change for me. I like to report on good news and positive attitudes toward nuclear energy.  I get tired of reporting on Vermont's seemingly endless negative news and negative attitudes.   As we get closer to Thanksgiving, I urge you to enjoy reading the post at the Northwest Clean Energy blog.  As a matter of fact, explore other posts on that blog: there are many upbeat posts and many fine contributors.

I am grateful that nuclear energy has a bright future in the Northwest.  I wish it had a bright future locally, too.