Program
What if Nuclear Innovation Could Change the World?
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Tuesday, September 3
Headliner Session
Advancing Nuclear
4:00-5:45 p.m. ETFowler Hall
Keynote Speech with Dr. Mark Peters
Followed by a panel discussion moderated by Miles O’BrienIn the face of an accelerating climate crisis, nuclear power is at a crossroads. While the industry is an important source of carbon-free energy in the U.S., old plants are getting shuttered and new plants are struggling to gain financial footing. Enter next generation nuclear.
Innovations driven by advanced materials, supercomputing, and modular construction–along with government and venture funding–is making a new era for nuclear power possible. A powerful line-up of industry and government movers and shakers–as well as advanced nuclear innovators–will provide a glimpse of the future.
Dr. Mark Peters
Keynote Speaker
Director, Idaho National Laboratory
Dr. Mark Peters is the director of Idaho National Laboratory with responsibilities for management and integration of a large, multipurpose laboratory whose mission focuses on nuclear energy, national and homeland security, and energy and environmental science and technology.
He manages this U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory of more than 4,000 scientists, engineers and support staff in multiple nuclear and nonnuclear experimental facilities, with an annual budget of over $900 million.
Annie Caputo
Panelist
Commissioner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Chris Levesque
Panelist
President and CEO, TerraPower
Tomás Díaz de la Rubia
Panelist
Vice President for Discovery Park, Purdue University
Jim Baird
Panelist
U.S. Representative (R-Indiana)
Miles O’Brien
Moderator
PBS Science Correspondent
Miles O’Brien is a veteran, award-winning journalist who focuses on science, technology, aerospace and the environment.
He is the science correspondent for PBS NewsHour, a producer and director for the PBS science documentary series NOVA, and a correspondent for the PBS documentary series FRONTLINE and the National Science Foundation Science Nation series.
For nearly seventeen of his thirty-two years in the news business, he worked for CNN as the science, environment and aerospace correspondent and the anchor of various programs, including American Morning.
Wednesday, September 4
Morning Breakout Session
Next Gen Nuclear: Space Exploration
Panel Discussion moderated by PBS Science correspondent Miles O’Brien10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET
Fowler Hall
Not since the 1950s and 1960s, at the height of the Cold War-era race with the Soviet Union, has the quest for exploration beyond Earth been as starry-eyed… and urgent. NASA, along with billionaire and venture-backed startups, have their eyes set on the moon and beyond as global competition heats up. This session will focus on how nuclear energy is necessary to provide power for a lunar outpost and to propel future space missions farther and longer than ever before.
John Dankanich
Panelist
Chief Technologist, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Lee Mason
Panelist
NASA Deputy Chief Engineer, Space Technology Mission Directorate
Jonathan Cirtain
Panelist
President of Advanced Technology Programs, BWXT
Cary Mitchell
Panelist
Professor of Horticulture, Purdue University
Miles O’Brien
Moderator
PBS Science Correspondent and Executive Producer of The Nuclear Option for NOVA
Lunch Hour
on your own, many options in lower level of PMU12:00-1:15 p.m. ET
Afternoon Breakout Session
Next Gen Nuclear: Climate & Clean Energy
Panel Discussion moderated by Jackie Kempfer of Third Way1:30-3:00 p.m. ET
Fowler Hall
What is nuclear energy’s role in a world weaning itself off carbon? That question has become an essential element of the growing debate over how to mitigate the near- and long-term effects of global warming. A panel of leading global experts will bring important context to a debate that has become more public and more urgent.
Leslie Dewan
Panelist
Founding Principal, Nucleation Capital
Ian Hamilton
Panelist
Founder and CEO, Atlas Energy Systems
Chris Colbert
Panelist
Chief Strategy Officer, NuScale Power
Seungjin Kim
Panelist
Head of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University
Jackie Kempfer
Moderator
Clean Energy Policy Advisor, Third Way
Evening Headliner Event
Fukushima Forward
3:30-5:00 p.m. ETFowler Hall
Keynote Speech with Naomi Hirose
Followed by a Panel Discussion moderated by Miles O’BrienIn March of 2011, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded to hit Japan spawned a massive tsunami that inundated the coastline, killing thousands and sending the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on the path to meltdown. A few miles south, however, the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant weathered the catastrophe without suffering a meltdown. Why? And what lessons have been learned from the incident?
Key industry players and insiders will make a rare joint appearance to reveal what happened that fateful day, the unprecedented cleanup process at Fukushima Daiichi, and how the incident is shaping the future of the nuclear power industry.
Naomi Hirose
Keynote Speaker
Executive Vice Chair – Fukushima Affairs
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)
Naomi Hirose served as President of TEPCO from 2012 to 2017 leading the company as it addressed a number of highly complex issues in the aftermath of the 2011 plant accident. He shares his insights on the current situation in Fukushima, lessons learned and implications from the accident.
Dale Klein
Panelist
Former Chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, now Professor of Engineering at the University of Texas
Lake Barrett
Panelist
Former senior manager at the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Miles O’Brien
Moderator
PBS Science Correspondent and Executive Producer of The Nuclear Option for NOVA
Thursday, September 5
Morning Breakout Session:
Next Gen Nuclear: Medicine & Health
Panel Discussion moderated by PBS Science correspondent Miles O’Brien10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET
Fowler Hall
About one-third of all procedures used in modern hospitals involve radiation or radioactivity. This session will focus on the successes and challenges facing the field of nuclear medicine. How is the recent restructuring of the Tc-99m radioisotope market playing out domestically? How are nuclear diagnostics and treatments advancing personalized medicine? And how can fusion research spin out health applications?
Kara Duncan Weatherman
Panelist
Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Purdue University
Mychaela Coyne
Panelist
Ph.D. Candidate, Purdue University School of Health Sciences
Stephen Merrick
Panelist
President and CEO, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes
Chad Lee
Panelist
Director of Clinical Development, TAE Life Sciences
Miles O’Brien
Moderator
PBS Science Correspondent and Executive Producer of The Nuclear Option for NOVA
Lunch Hour
on your own, many options in lower level of PMU12:00-1:15 p.m. ET
Afternoon Breakout Session:
Next Gen Nuclear: Safety & Security
Panel Discussion moderated by Jackie Kempfer of Third Way1:30-3:00 p.m. ET
Fowler Hall
The digital revolution–not just software and hardware, but big data, AI, and robotics as well–is transforming the nuclear power industry. Purdue University is home to the PUR-1 reactor, now upgraded with the first fully digital instrumentation and control system in the United States. In this session, leading experts will discuss how digital technology promises to revolutionize the industry.
Lefteri Tsoukalas
Panelist
Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University
Joel Fetter
Panelist
Consultant to ARPA-E, Booz Allen Hamilton
Jason Harris
Panelist
Director of Purdue’s Center for Radiological and Nuclear Security
Tom Gruenwald
Panelist
COO, Blue Wave AI Labs
Mitch Pryor
Panelist
Research scientist and co-founder, UT-Austin Nuclear and Applied Robotics Group
Jackie Kempfer
Moderator
Clean Energy Policy Advisor, Third Way
Afternoon Session:
America’s Role in the Nuclear Future
Keynote Conversation with U.S. Senator Mike Braun of Indiana and Dr. William Bookless of the National Nuclear Security Administration, moderated by PBS Science Correspondent Miles O’Brien
3:30-4:15 p.m. ET
Fowler Hall
U.S. Senator Mike Braun (R-Indiana)
Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Dr. William Bookless
NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator
Miles O’Brien
PBS Science Correspondent
Summit Takeaways with Leslie Dewan, Jackie Kempfer, and Miles O’Brien
4:15-4:45 p.m. ETFowler Hall
What if… nuclear innovation could change the world?
Leslie Dewan
Founding Principal at Nucleation Capital
Dr. Leslie Dewan graduated from MIT with a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering, with a research focus on computational nuclear materials. She also holds S.B. degrees from MIT in Mechanical Engineering and Nuclear Engineering. Before starting her Ph.D., she worked for a robotics company in Cambridge, MA, where she designed search-and-rescue robots and equipment for in-field identification of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. Leslie has been awarded a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship and an MIT Presidential Fellowship. She was named a TIME Magazine “30 People Under 30 Changing the World”, an MIT Technology Review “Innovator Under 35,” and a Forbes “30 Under 30” in Energy.
Jackie Kempfer
Clean Energy Policy Advisor, Third Way
Miles O’Brien
PBS Science Correspondent and Executive Producer of The Nuclear Option for NOVA