Distinguished Seminar: Energy Seminar Series, “Nuclear Energy Deployment at Scale”

DISTINGUISHED SEMINAR: ENERGY SEMINAR SERIES
Dr. Kathryn Huff
Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy
US Department of Energy

Nuclear Energy Deployment at Scale

Abstract:
Nuclear Energy Deployment at Scale
DISTINGUISHED SEMINAR: ENERGY SEMINAR SERIES
Dr. Kathryn Huff
Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy
US Department of Energy
Wednesday, November 8, 4:00 pm (MT)
Hill Hall 202

President Eisenhower delivered his historic “Atoms for Peace” speech in December 1953. In it, he invoked the existential threat of nuclear weapons proliferation and the potential horror of nuclear war to muster the diplomatic energy of the United Nations toward establishing peaceful uses for the atom. The speech also launched domestic and international initiatives that would underpin decades of robust, peaceful, nuclear power commercialization and expansion. In the face of the global climate crisis, the atom again offers a glimmer of hope. DOE estimates the US will need an additional 200 gigawatts of firm, clean electricity capacity to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and new reactor technologies will need to help fill that void. The next generation of reactors incorporate decades of experience, research, and technological advancements which enable passive safety, meltdown-proof fuels, and flexible integration with renewables. This talk will discuss the challenges of deployment at scale and in the context of today’s priorities in the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, the challenge of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, and the imperative to deploy transformative new reactors, fuels, and fuel cycle technologies in support of a just, secure, clean energy future worldwide.

Dr. Kathryn Huff leads the Office of Nuclear Energy as the Assistant Secretary. Before joining the DOE, she was a professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was previously a postdoctoral fellow in both the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium and the Berkeley Institute for Data Science at the University of California Berkeley. She received her Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Chicago. Her research has focused on modeling and simulation of advanced nuclear reactors and fuel cycles. Through leadership within Software Carpentry, SciPy, the Hacker Within, and the Journal of Open Source Software, she has also advocated for best practices in open, reproducible scientific computing. She is a recipient of both the Young Member Excellence and Mary Jane Oestmann Professional Women’s Achievement awards.