Regular Meeting – June 19, 2023

We’ll hear presentations from Seth Grae, President and CEO of Lightbridge and Matt Wald, writer for the American Nuclear Society, and the Breakthrough Institute. We will also entertain comments from members of the public and address other commission business.

<< Previous meeting May 12, 2023     Next meeting August 7, 2023 >>

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Video

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Agenda

Quorum requirement. We require six (6) commission members in attendance to have a quorum.

91A notice. Group email communications constituting a quorum of commission members are subject to 91A requests. Please email the Chair directly to communicate with the group.

Remote access. Commission members are encouraged to attend in person. Guests and members of the public are invited to attend either in person or via Zoom using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82216964368

Please note. If attending in person, please arrive a few minutes early to get checked through security.

Agenda Items

1. Welcome, new commission member Mikael Pyrtel of the N.H. Department of Business and Economic Affairs
2. Approve minutes of the May 12 meeting.
3. Opportunity for public input. Pass sign-in sheet.
4. Presentation – 30 minutes w/ additional Q&A
   
   Seth Grae is President and CEO of Lightbridge, leading efforts to develop and deploy advanced nuclear reactor fuel that will result in existing and new reactors providing more electricity and enhanced safety and proliferation resistance to allow nuclear power to compete and grow internationally as a non-emitting source of base load electricity.
   
   Lightbridge has also advised governments of countries seeking to start nuclear power programs from feasibility studies through procurement and operations. Lightbridge’s first significant international engagement was to develop the strategic plan—the Roadmap for Success—for commercial nuclear energy for the United Arab Emirates.
   
   Mr. Grae is a member of the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (CINTAC) to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and is a member of the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Board of Directors. He is a member of the Nuclear Security Working Group, Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition, Working Group on Climate, Nuclear, and Security Affairs of the Council on Strategic Risks. Seth is a member of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium. He is also a Dean’s Advisory Council member at the Washington College of Law at American University. He has served as Vice Chair of the Governing Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers Alliance for World Security, and as Co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Arms Control & Disarmament.
   
   Mr. Grae earned a B.A. (cum laude) from Brandeis University, an MBA and an LLM in international law from Georgetown University, and a J.D. from American University.
   
   Presentation slide deck can be downloaded here.
   
   Topics to be covered
   • About Lightbridge and Lightbridge Fuel
   • Recent developments at Lightbridge
   • Lightbridge Fuel and SMRs
   • Current political sentiment for growing nuclear power
     
5. Presentation – 30 minutes w/ additional Q&A
   
   Matt Wald is a writer for the American Nuclear Society and the Breakthrough Institute, where he contributes his expertise in energy and technology to promote nuclear energy and advance climate solutions. Matt has established himself as a seasoned journalist with 37 years of journalistic experience at The New York Times, including coverage of New England in the 1980s. From 2015 to 2021, he served as a policy analyst and communications advisor at the Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade association of nuclear utilities. Matt holds a B.A. from Brown University and a certificate in auto mechanics from the Providence Vocational Technical School.
   
   Topics to be covered
   • Rundown of the variety of reactors under development:
     • NuScale, BWRX, and AP300, each with fuel already available and either license in hand or many components that are already in use in the industry and a relatively short path to regulatory approval;
     • x-Energy and Natrium, each building on earlier demonstration work, each with strong DOE support, and on a “fast track” to deployment, but facing fuel questions and First-Of-A-Kind challenges;
     • Kairos Power, Moltex, and Terrestrial Energy are further back on the development curve but showing progress. The market for reactors;
     • x-Energy’s first reactor will be owned by Dow, a chemical company, not a utility.
   • Industrial decarbonization may require “energy parks” with factories clustered around a reactor that produces process heat, and utilities might not own these.
   • The current state of our nuclear fuel infrastructure.
     • See: On the verge of a crisis: The U.S. nuclear fuel Gordian knot
       
6. Opportunity for additional public input
7. Commission member discussion
8. Old business
   • Movie: Nuclear Now, directed by Oliver Stone, is now available on streaming services.
   • Any updates on Executive Council request to discuss RSA 162-B: Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy?
9. New business
   • Schedule remaining meeting dates in advance. Should we take July off?
   • July 2023 Interim Report Outline/Draft
10. Adjournment

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Addenda

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